Providence Chef Named Among 2025 James Beard Award Winners

A Providence chef is one of several honorees of the 2025 James Beard awards.

Sky Haneul Kim, chef at Gift Horse in Providence, was named Best Chef: Northeast at the 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards.

Held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, June 16, the 35th Restaurant and Chef Award gala, often referred to as the Oscars of the food world, recognizes exceptional culinary talent.

Kim's award makes her the third best chef winner from Rhode Island and the second best in three years. In 2023, Sherry Pocknett and her Sly Fox Den Too restaurant in Charlestown received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Northeast. The restaurant is no longer in business.

Al Forno's Johanne Killeen and her husband, the late George Germon, won the regional best chef award in 1993. Aunt Carrie's, the Narragansett clam shack, and Olneyville New York System in Providence also both have America's Classics Awards from the James Beard Foundation.

According to a Providence Journal report, Gift Horse's Kim was nominated by James Beard in 2024, when she was named a semifinalist in the Emerging Chef category. 

Dishes on Gift Horse's menu include fresh local oysters served with kimchi mignonette. A smoked fish dip with Calabrian peppers is served with puffed nori chips. A warm butter scallop roll rivals the New England classic lobster roll.

Gift Horse is managed by chef and owner Benjamin Sukle of Oberlin. Sukle has been a James Beard finalist twice in the regional category for Best Chef: Northeast, once for Oberlin and the now-closed Birch.

Gift Horse is at 272 Westmister St. in Providence. Visit the restaurant's website to view its raw bar, food and cocktails, and wine menus.