{"id":1637,"date":"2026-06-16T12:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1637"},"modified":"2026-06-16T12:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:04:29","slug":"denver-dumpling-chef-wins-james-beard-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1637","title":{"rendered":"Denver dumpling chef wins James Beard Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The owner of Yuan Wonton was named the best chef in the mountain U.S. by the James Beard Awards on Monday night, earning the nod after being nominated three years in a row.<\/p>\n

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Penelope Wong, a Denver native, opened Yuan Wonton in 2019 with her husband Rob Jenks and sous chef Ngoc Nguyen. The dumpling shop was still a food truck when James Beard first considered her for the prestigious regional culinary award as a semifinalist in 2023.<\/p>\n

On Monday night during the live awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Wong fought back tears as she walked up to the stage to accept the award with her Yuan Wonton team.<\/p>\n

From the podium and using expletives, she recognized her fellow nominee, chef Johnny Curiel of Alma Fonda Fina. \u201cI beat Johnny Curiel!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, this was never the dream,\u201d Wong said during her acceptance speech. \u201cBut to be up here, to be given this platform, to be recognized for wanting to achieve some rather simple goals in the grand scheme of things \u2026 this is most definitely a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Also nominated for this year\u2019s James Beard Awards were Josh Niernberg of Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction for outstanding chef; Ryan Fletter of Barolo Grill in Denver for outstanding professional in beverage service; and McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright of Yacht Club in Denver for outstanding professionals in cocktail service. The ceremony emphasized the contributions of immigrants to the food industry, with several winners emphasizing their nationalities and ethnic heritage.<\/p>\n

Yuan Wonton was one of 32 finalists to appear in the Denver Post\u2019s bracket of the best dumplings in the city. The restaurant is open Tuesdays through Fridays at 2878 Fairfax St., Denver.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Third time’s the charm for Penelope Wong of Yuan Wonton, who was named best chef in the mountain U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-restaurants-food-and-drink","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nDenver dumpling chef wins James Beard Award - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1637\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Denver dumpling chef wins James Beard Award - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Third time's the charm for Penelope Wong of Yuan Wonton, who was named best chef in the mountain U.S.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1637\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T12:04:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Denver dumpling chef wins James Beard Award\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T12:04:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637\"},\"wordCount\":360,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/83ac2bccafb09855ce701d8835430389.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Restaurants, Food and Drink\",\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=1637\",\"name\":\"Denver dumpling chef wins James Beard Award - 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