CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's a good year for Cleveland, if nominations for the 2013 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chefs Awards is any measure.

Michael Symon is up for the prize as Outstanding Chef for his restaurant Lola. Matt Danko of Greenhouse Tavern has a nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef. Chez Francois Restaurant in Vermilion could land a nod as America's place for Outstanding Service.

Zack Bruell, chef-owner of Cowell & Hubbard restaurant in downtown Cleveland.

And in the Best Chef/Great Lakes category, four of the 20 nominees are Ohioans, two of them representing Cleveland: it's Zack Bruell (Cowell & Hubbard) V. Jonathon Sawyer (Greenhouse Tavern) for that coveted regional recognition. And among a tough field of nominees -- almost half of them Chicagoans -- the guys from NEO will also be competing against Jean-Robert de Cavel (Jean-Robert's Table, Cincinnati) and Anne Kearney (Rue Dumaine, Dayton).

Jonathon Sawyer, chef-owner of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland.

It's always important to note that this round of nominees fall under the category of semifinalists. Review the names in each of the categories and you'll find a Who's Who of many of America's best. It's always a tough competition.

This initial list of names will be winnowed to a far shorter set of five finalists in each category, to be announced during a press conference on Monday, March 18 at the historic Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charlestown, SC. Award winners will be named at the annual Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception on Monday, May 6 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

When I say "It's an honor just to be nominated" -- and having spent more than 18 years as a member of Beard Award competitions, including two years as chairman of the Foundation's Awards Committee, I speak with conviction -- you're apt to roll your eyes.

Chez Francois restaurant in Vermilion is nominated for the James Beard Foundation Awards Outstanding Service honor.

But consider: the crew of Clevelanders who landed nominations were among 44,000 entries submitted online. Wags may dismiss this as a cattle call, but few would shrug off a spot on this particular short list.