Phila Lorn of Mawn Wins at the 2025 James Beard Awards
The South Philly chef is the only Philadelphian honored at the foundation's prestigious Restaurant and Chef Awards.
Phila Lorn accepting a James Beard Award / Photograph courtesy of Getty Images for James Beard Foundation
When this year’s award season began back in January, Philly had 14 chefs and restaurants named as semifinalists in 10 different categories for the 2025 James Beard Awards. From Greg Vernick, Abby Dahan, and Yun Fuentes to Kalaya, Caphê Roasters, and Little Fish, some of the biggest names in Philly’s food and beverage industry got called out for being among the best at what they do.
By April, when the official nominations had been announced, Philly was down to just four finalists. There was the Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday (nominated for Outstanding Bar), Phila Lorn from Mawn (in the running for Emerging Chef) and, in the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic category, we had Amanda Schulman from Her Place Supper Club and Jesse Ito from Royal Sushi and Izakaya (making his eighth appearance at the big show). In a competition as big and far-reaching as the James Beard Awards, it was a pretty strong showing. Not our best year, but far from our worst.
Then, over the weekend and in a big ceremony at the Lyric Opera in Chicago on Monday night, the winners were finally announced for the Restaurant and Chef Awards and Philly walked away with one incredibly deserving winner.
South Philly’s own Phila Lorn took home the award for Emerging Chef for his work at Mawn. The award recognizes “chef who displays exceptional talent, character, and leadership ability, and who is likely to make a significant impact in years to come,” and this year’s recipient has never been more appropriate.
When I first wrote about Lorn getting his nomination, I said that the James Beard Award judges should just make their job easy and give him the award immediately. Apparently, they were paying attention. Phila, his wife and business partner Rachel, and the entire crew at Mawn have been killing it this year. The restaurant is jumping, the noodles are awesome, the menu is brilliant, and with the recent announcement of plans for opening Sao, a Southeast Asian-inspired oyster house on East Passyunk, the title of Emerging Chef is the perfect way to describe Lorn’s work in the past few years. And the future is only looking better.
So congrats to Lorn, Mawn, and all of our nominees. Y’all did the city proud — proving once again to the entire country what those of us lucky enough to live (and eat) here already know: Philly rules.
