High Wire, Fig named James Beard Award finalists

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Two Charleston culinary establishments have been named finalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards, the food industry’s highest honor.

Fig, a restaurant on Meeting Street in downtown Charleston, was nominated for outstanding restaurant. High Wire Distilling Co., a distillery on King Street in Charleston owned by Ann Marshall and Scott Blackwell, was nominated for outstanding wine, spirits or beer producer.

Last month, eight Charleston-area establishments and chefs were named semifinalists for the awards. A voting body made up of 300 previous James Beard Award Winners and 18 members of the foundation’s award subcommittee voted on the 20 semifinalists, and the five semifinalists with the most votes became the finalists for the awards.

Winners will be announced during the 2019 James Beard Awards Gala on May 6 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The ceremony will be hosted by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Rodney Scott, pitmaster at Rodney Scott’s BBQ, was named the best chef in the Southeast last year, and Fig won the award for outstanding wine program. Fig’s executive chef Jason Stanhope won the award for best chef in the Southeast in 2015.