Mawn's chef Phila Lorn scored a big W on Monday night at the James Beard Awards. Why it matters: "The Beards" are a big deal, considered the Oscars of the American hospitality industry. Zoom in: Lorn won an award in the Emerging Chef category. He opened his Cambodian noodle house in Bella Vista in 2023 with his wife Rachel.

New York City restaurants won three of the six major national awards: outstanding chef (Jungsik Yim of Jungsik ), outstanding hospitality ( Atomix) and outstanding restaurateur (Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau d’Or ).

Chefs and restaurants were honored on Monday night with James Beard Awards, one of the US culinary community’s highest accolades.