Chef Michael Tusk of Quince and bartender Kevin Diedrich of Pacific Cocktail Haven took top honors Monday night at the 2026 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago — a double win for San Francisco.

Two San Francisco operators took top honors at the 2026 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards on Monday night at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Michael Tusk, co-owner and chef of Quince at 470 Pacific Ave in Jackson Square, won Outstanding Chef — the Foundation's top individual culinary recognition. According to the Foundation, he is the first Bay Area chef to win an individual James Beard Award since 2022; it's his second, after taking Best Chef Pacific in 2011. Quince, registered with the City as Quince & Co LLC, has operated on Pacific Avenue since at least 2009.

Kevin Diedrich, head bartender and co-owner of Pacific Cocktail Haven at 550 Sutter St, won Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. The bar has been registered with the City since October 2015 — going on eleven years, longer than most rooms in that corridor survive.

Outstanding Chef is the individual award the industry tracks most closely, the one that rarely returns to the same city two years running. That both winners claim San Francisco addresses — not the suburbs, not a newer room somewhere on the Peninsula — carries some weight in a moment when the city's operators face compounding pressure on rent, labor, and foot traffic. Tusk and Diedrich have each held their rooms for years. The awards landed on operators with track records, not debuts.