Fresh off a wave of positive reviews for his first memoir, Notes From a Young Black Chef, and a nod at this year’s RAMMY Awards, chef Kwame Onwuachi’s good year continues: The chef of Kith & Kin took home the rising star chef award at the James Beard Awards on Monday.

“It’s crazy to me that eight years ago, I was selling candy on the subway with a dream—a dream of becoming a chef,” Onwuachi said as he accepted the prize at Monday’s awards ceremony in Chicago. “Now I know that life’s journey is riddled with potholes, but what we do in and out of the kitchen reflects who we are the legacy we want to leave.”

The accolade comes just two and a half years after one of those potholes: the closing of Onwuachi’s first restaurant Shaw Bijou. The chef, now 29, faced criticism for his pricey tasting menu—particularly in a scathing review from the Washington Post (our reviewer, on the other hand, claimed it was worth the $185 price tag). The chef rebounded later that year with the opening of Kith and Kin, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant at The Wharf, which has received critical acclaim.

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Tom Cunanan, chef of the lauded Bad Saint in Columbia Heights, took home the prize for best chef: Mid Atlantic. For the second year in a row, the chef was nominated against Centrolina chef Amy Brandwein, Cindy Wolf of the restaurant Charleston in Baltimore, and Rich Landau of Vedge in Philadelphia. “Winning a James Beard Award has always been my dream since I was a young line cook in D.C.,” Cunanan said in his acceptance speech.

Meanwhile, Pichet Ong, the chef behind the work-of-art cakes at Brothers & Sisters at The Line hotel, was up for outstanding pastry chef, but lost out to Kelly Fields, of New Orleans’ Willa Jean. Ong was one of a handful of finalists that had been narrowed down from a list of 20 D.C.-based semifinalists named in February.

While Onwuachi is the first D.C.-based chef to ever win the rising star award, the District has had a pretty good showing in the best chef: Mid-Atlantic category in recent years. Aaron Silverman, of Rose’s Luxury, won the award in 2016, and The Dabney’s Jeremiah Langhorne took home the prize in 2018.

Mark Furstenberg of Bread Furst picked up the outstanding baker award in 2017.

Patrick O’Connell, chef at the Inn at Little Washington, accepted a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation, “I’m living proof that you can hide out in a mountain village and still be discovered and recognized by your peers,” the chef said on stage. “The power of good food should never be underestimated.” And Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse was one of five restaurants recognized as a James Beard Classic.

Monday’s honorees join a pair of D.C.-based winners announced at the James Beard Media Awards at the end of April. Edward Lee, chef of Succotash in Penn Quarter, won a book prize in the writing category for his memoir Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine. Over in the broadcast media category, WETA’s Pati’s Mexican Table – Tijuana: Stories from the Border took home the award for best television program in studio or fixed location.

Rachel Sadon contributed reporting.