About the Academy
The Academy is the mechanism used to create the North America's 50 Best Restaurants list. None of the employees of any of the sponsors associated with the awards, including the main sponsor, votes or has any influence over the results.
The Academy is comprised of 300 members, each selected for their expert opinion of the North American restaurant scene. To create the Academy, and provide a fair representation of the continent, we divide North America into eight separate voting regions.
Each region has a chairperson appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These Chairs each select a voting panel (including themselves), ensuring a balanced selection of chefs, restaurateurs, food/restaurant journalists and gourmets.
Learn more about the how the voting works
The Academy Chairs
Adrian Brijbassi
Canada West
Adrian Brijbassi is the publisher and managing editor of Vacay.ca, a digital travel magazine focused on Canadian destinations, culinary experiences and culture. Brijbassi has won numerous awards for his travel writing, travel photography and fiction. He is a former editor at the Toronto Star and New York Newsday, and was the social media and advocacy manager for Destination Canada. He also edited Inspired Cooking, a nutrition-focused cookbook featuring 20 of Canada's leading chefs and in support of cancer-fighting initiatives.
Lesley Chesterman
Canada East
Lesley Chesterman attended the Institut de Tourisme et d'Hôtellerie du Québec before working as a professional pastry chef and cooking teacher in Montreal and France. She served as the restaurant critic at the Montreal Gazette for 20 years, with work appearing in publications including Gourmet Magazine, The Art of Eating, FOOL Magazine, Nuvo, Food Arts, the New York Post, and Eater.com. A regular contributor to Radio-Canada shows, Chesterman has authored two award-winning cookbooks with two more scheduled for release this year. She also co-hosts the podcast Salt Lick.
Lyndsay C. Green
USA Midwest
Lyndsay C. Green is the dining and restaurant critic at the Detroit Free Press. In her role, she covers the gamut of metro Detroit’s food industry. In 2023, Green was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and earned a James Beard Award for Emerging Voice in Journalism. She was also a nominee for a 2024 James Beard Award in the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award category. Outside of the newsroom, Green served as chair of the Food Writing Awards for the 2024 International Association of Culinary Professionals and is a champion for farming and food sovereignty. She is a founding board member of Crane Street Garden, an urban farm on Detroit's east side. Green’s published articles can be found on freep.com.
Mike Jordan
USA South
Mike Jordan is senior editor at UATL, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Black culture brand, and a longtime Atlanta-based culture journalist. He has covered a range of stories, from hyperlocal to international, for The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Bon Appetit, The Guardian, National Geographic, Southern Living, Eater, Resy and Thrillist, where he served as Atlanta's founding editor in 2008 and bureau chief for more than a decade. Jordan is also chairman of the Atlanta Press Club, a weekly contributor at Atlanta NPR-affiliate WABE, and winner of the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award, for which he was a finalist in 2023.
Virginia Miller
USA West
Virginia Miller founded The Perfect Spot website and accompanying Substack, writing about the more than 15,000 restaurants she has visited worldwide. She serves as W.North America Academy Chair for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, West Academy Chair for North America and is on the James Beard Awards Committee. Published in more than 60 international outlets, her work appears in Bon Appétit, Time Out, Whisky Magazine, Distiller Magazine and more. She consults on dining and drink, from co-creating spirits to honing menus, and is a judge or lead judge in international spirits and bars awards.
Nneka Nurse
The Caribbean
Nneka Nurse is the founder of Best Dressed Plate, a culinary platform dedicated to elevating Caribbean gastronomy through dining experiences and cultural storytelling. A respected authority on Caribbean cuisine, her acclaimed dinner series, Caribbean Tradishon, featured at the James Beard House, The United Nations and internationally has become a benchmark for innovative Caribbean dining experiences, showcasing the sophisticated techniques and cultural narratives behind the region's cuisine. Her unique perspective is informed by extensive travels throughout the Caribbean, documenting traditional cooking techniques, indigenous ingredients and the evolving contemporary restaurant scene.
Jamila Robinson
USA Northeast
Jamila Robinson is the Editor in Chief of Bon Appétit magazine and Epicurious and has previously worked for Philadelphia Inquirer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the USA Today Network. She was previously the chair of the James Beard Foundation Journalism Committee and a mentor for the JBF fellowship program. Robinson serves as the East USA & East Canada Academy Chair for The World's 50 Best Restaurants.
Renée Suen
Canada Central
Renée Suen is a Toronto-based restaurant and travel journalist, and photographer, who searches the world for memorable tastes and the stories behind the plate. A columnist of SingTao’s eliteGen, she’s a contributor to publications including The Toronto Star, Chatelaine, re:Porter, and has maintained a longstanding byline with Toronto Life. Previously a food, travel and lifestyle editor at Zoomer Media, Suen also serves as the head Toronto judge for the Canadian Culinary Championship. Known for her insatiable appetite, the former academic scientist has been covering the Canadian food and restaurant scene for nearly two decades. Suen serves as the Academy Chair for Mid USA & Mid Canada in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.
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