Nisachon Morgan of the Vermont Thai restaurant Saap won the James Beard award for Best Chef: Northeast, beating out four other chefs — three from Portland, Maine, and one from Boston.
Morgan, the chef/owner of Saap in Randolph, accepted the award at Monday night’s ceremony in Chicago, celebrating the country’s top chefs and restaurants. Morgan, who has never received a nomination for the prestigious award before this year, beat out fellow local nominees Tiffani Faison of Orfano in Boston, Damian Sansonetti of Chaval in Portland, Vien Dobui of CÔNG TỬ BỘT in Portland, and Courtney Loreg of Woodford Food & Beverage in Portland.
The category covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
“Chef Nisachon Morgan is proud to represent Vermont, and is committed to providing Saap’s guests with delicious traditional dishes from the Isaan region of Thailand,” Saap said in a post on its website. Morgan and her husband, Steve, opened the Randolph restaurant in 2014. Steve Morgan wrote that they were in Chicago on Monday for the awards ceremony.
