Renowned Dover, New Hampshire chef Evan Hennessey has been named winner of the 2026 James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef Northeast.
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.” Hennessey said on stage as he accepted the award. “I think that’s pretty much what got all of us here.”
The awards, held June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, are often referred to as the “Oscars of the food world.”
Hennessey is the owner of Stages at One Washington, a high-end restaurant downtown in Dover’s Washington Street Mills, where he serves six customers at a time, cooking in front of them. Hennessey was announced as a James Beard Award finalist March 31, less than an hour after Topolino, his new Mediterranean restaurant in Dover, opened for the first time.
Hennessey made a point to thank Dover during his acceptance speech for the honor going to the top chef in the six New England states.
“Huge shoutout to the entire community of Dover, New Hampshire. I hope you are watching right now,” he said. “We may be 34,000 people, but damn we are big.”
He also thanked everyone at the awards for providing inspiration.
“Every person here that has ever been here that has ever walked through that door and will walk through that door is a true inspiration to me, always will. You’re holding the knife with me when I’m on the cutting board, you’re typing when I’m on the keyboards, you’re running with me when I’m on the trails, you’re climbing with me when I’m on the rocks. So many people to thank,” Hennessey said. “I stand here and I represent small businesses in small towns. Small farmers, the fishing industry, fisheries, foragers, the people that do the hard work before we even get to see the food. … I love you all, thank you.”
He thanked his parents, who attended the awards saying, “They’ve supported me in every crazy thing I’ve ever thought of, and I highly appreciate that.”
After he left the stage, Hennessey during a brief press conference, talked more about his restaurant team and representing Dover.
“I think one of the things that crossed my mind a moment ago was that we respect each other, our community and everybody that works within it so so much, and we lean on each other, we rely on each other, and this thing (gesturing to his James Beard medal) shows that yes, we can, yes, we do, and it really solidifies that commitment to each other,” he said. “To work hard, try hard, push that boundary and keep going.
“The fact we’re doing this from a small town from Dover, I mean I want everybody in Dover to scream for this thing, that’s insane,” he said.
Hennessey brings Stages team to James Beard Awards
Prior to the awards, Hennessey was already commenting on the magnitude of the moment.
“It’s really interesting to grow up watching the James Beard Awards and always either idolizing or being inspired by all the people that have been nominated or won or anything, and always looked up to them,” Hennessey said in an interview before leaving for Chicago. “It means an incredible amount for me to actually now be standing up there with everybody and be considered a peer, not just an onlooker.”
Hennessey said his entire Stages team was traveling to Chicago for the James Beard Awards, as were his parents.
Hennessey referenced the Dr. Seuss quote from the Lorax, “‘I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees.’ That’s in a lot of ways how I feel. I’m very much standing up with and for a small business in a small town in a state that is not always known for great culinary scenes. And I know as I look around the entire state that everybody is trying so hard and has incredible things, and I just feel super fortunate that I get to be the one that stands up and says, ‘hey, look at us.’”
Hennessey has competed on Food Network’s show “Chopped,” first in 2018, where he was named the champion, and has appeared on “Chopped” and “Chopped Champions” multiple times. He’s also been named a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast in the past and received the Award of Excellence from the Chaine des Rotisseurs. Stages has been named one of the top 100 Best Restaurants in North America by Opinionated About Dining eight years in a row.
The other four Best Chef Northeast finalists were David Distasi, Materia Ristorante, Bantam, CT; Thomas Takashi Cooke, Izakaya Minato, Portland, ME; Paul Trombly, Fancy’s, Burlington, VT; and Derek Wagner, Nicks on Broadway, Providence, RI.
This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat. Reporting by Sarah Donovan.
