For the second year in a row, the chef and proprietor of a lauded fine dining restaurant in Ashland was named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef award.

Joshua Dorcak, owner and chef at prix fixe restaurant MÄS in Ashland, was named among five chefs across Oregon and Washington as finalists for the “Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific” category. Best Chef finalists in 22 regional categories were announced Wednesday in a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

The award is sometimes described as “the Oscars of food.” Dorcak and his restaurant at 141 Will Dodge Way specializing in Cascadian Cuisine is up against the chefs of Portland’s kann, Seattle restaurants Communion and Musang, and Matia Kitchen in Orcas Island, Washington, according to a foundation press release.

Dorcak was shortlisted for the award in January. He was also a finalist for Best Chef last year, and the restaurant in 2022 was selected by the New York Times as one of the 50 Best Restaurants in America.

In an email to the Rogue Valley Times, Dorcack expressed gratitude for the honor.

“I just find it so humbling to be in the nominee list from Ashland, Oregon,” Dorcak said. “To have this community support the restaurant and my cooking career is so special to me, and I am very thankful for the opportunity.”

He described the onset of spring paired with the honor as inspirations to push himself.

“I am pumped for the seasons coming up, and this definitely is a great motivation to keep pushing and growing as a chef and restaurant,” Dorcak added.

The reservation-only restaurant has a deliberately intimate dining area of three tables and a counter, and an ever-changing menu inspired by the changing seasons that combines farm-to-table local ingredients with fresh meats and seafood sourced as far away as Japan.

Winners will be announced in a ceremony June 10 at the Restaurant and Chef Awards at Lyric Opera of Chicago. The ceremony starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time and will be livestreamed on the food blog Eater.com. Find a link to the livestream at Eater.com/jbfa.