The James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 2025 Restaurant and Chef Awards on Wednesday, January 22. Several Vermont chefs and a bar were recognized in the first round of the prestigious awards. Cara Chigazola Tobin and Allison Gibson of Burlington's Honey Road and the Grey Jay made the semifinalist list for Outstanding Restaurateur, a nationwide category. White River Junction cocktail bar Wolf Tree was named in the nationwide Outstanding Bar category. Two Vermont chefs made the list for the regional Best Chef: Northeast category: Avery Buck of May Day in Burlington and Charlie Menard, owner of Canteen Creemee in Waitsfield. Chef Nisachon "Rung" Morgan of Saap restaurant in Randolph won Vermont's first James Beard Foundation Award in the Best Chef: Northeast category in 2022. In 2024, Vermont was represented by two finalists: Chigazola Tobin in the Best Chef: Northeast category and the cocktail bar at Barr Hill's Montpelier distillery in the nationwide Outstanding Bar category. This year's semifinalists will be whittled into a short list of nominees on Wednesday, April 2. Award winners will be announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 16. This story will be updated…