News
Jun 15, 2022
Tucson’s Don Guerra Named Best Baker at America’s Culinary Oscars
By Dan Shalin, patch.com
TUCSON, AZ — A chef in Tucson picked up a prestigious culinary honor as a winner in the James Beard Foundation’s 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards, presented Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Don Guerra of Barrio Bread was named Outstanding Baker. Guerra is the owner and baker of the restaurant, located at 18 S. Eastbourne Ave.
On its website, Barrio Bread is described as “a true neighborhood bakery that showcases the art and science of Don Guerra’s passion for baking and his commitment to community.”
Guerra is from the Phoenix area and grew up baking with his mother and eating his nana’s tortillas, according to the website.
He previously opened a bakery called The Village Baker in Flagstaff in 1995. A few years later, he opened The Village Baker of Ashland, in Oregon. Barrio Bread began in 2009.
According to the bakery’s website, Guerra is committed to working with local farmers, chefs and other food producers to strengthen the local grain economy and grow the local food network.
In 2016, Guerra was named one of the Top Ten Bakers in America by Dessert Professionals magazine.
However, the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards are regarded as the Oscars of the culinary industry.
The industry remains in a recovery phase after lost business during the pandemic and “still needs support,” James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach said at the ceremony, according to a news release.
The awards honor not only individual winners but also “our entire industry — and the incredible resilience, fortitude, talent, and leadership so many have shown over the past two years,” Reichenbach said.
The awards had been on a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. During that time, the awards program “underwent a full audit of its policies and procedures, continuing the work to remove bias, increase transparency and accessibility, and make the program more aligned with the Foundation’s mission and values.”