James Beard Awards Nomination System Criticized and in Need of Reform

Veronika Gerasimova, owner of Veronika's Pastry Shop in Billings, Montana, has been named one of five finalists for best pastry chef in the United States by the James Beard Foundation. Gerasimova, who immigrated to the US from Uzbekistan in 1999, opened her pastry shop in 2017 and has since made tens of thousands of European and Russian-style pastries. She was selected as a finalist from a pool of 20 semifinalists and will find out if she has won the award on June 5.