More local restaurants and restaurateurs are nominees for 2008 James Beard Foundation Chef and Restaurant Awards.

Although the Beard Foundation has made no formal announcement of its nominees, New York magazine obtained and posted online a copy of the ballot, which category judges vote on. At a press conference Monday, March 24, the foundation will name finalists in each of 19 awards categories.

These are the Ohio nominees on the “long list” ballot:

Jonathon Sawyer of Bar Cento in Cleveland joins Lola Bistro pastry chef Cory Barrett as nominees for the foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the year award – along with 26 other nominees from throughout the United States.

Dante, chef Dante Boccuzzi’s spot in the former Lockkeepers restaurant in Valley View, is a nominee for Best New Restaurant, along with Table 45 in Cleveland. Among the 30 restaurants named in the category, the Dayton restaurant Rue Dumaine is also nominated.

Other Ohio restaurants are competing for the Best Chef/Great Lakes award, for which Zach Bruell’s Table 45 and Michael Symon’s Lola Bistro are also nominated. Competitors include Michael Bulkowski, of Revolver in Findlay, and Jean-Robert De Cavel, of Jean-Robert at Pigall’s, Cincinnati. In total, 20 restaurants in a four-state region (Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan) are up for the honor.

Middleburg Heights natives Larry and Rick D’Amico also have been nominated for one of the Beard Foundation’s top recognitions, the Outstanding Restaurateur award. The brothers operate several restaurants in the metro Minneapolis area and in Naples, Fla. Their competition includes 20 of the top restaurant groups in the nation, headed by names such as Wolfgang Puck of Los Angeles, Richard Melman of Chicago and Joseph Bastianich of New York City.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jcrea@plaind.com, 216-999-4401