ASHEVILLE — Several local chefs have been nominated for the Oscars of the food world.

The James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards recognize talent in restaurants, bars and in the food-writing industry. Awards include Outstanding Bar Program, Outstanding Baker and Rising Star Chef.

The semifinalists were announced Wednesday for 2019.

Here's what else you need to know:

Who was nominated locally?

Katie Button and Meherwan Irani are both semifinalists for Best Chef Southeast.

Button is the chef behind Cúrate and Button's Bagels, and has been a fixture on the Asheville restaurant scene since she and her family open her renowned tapas restaurant in 2011.

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Button was a semifinalist for the James Beard's Rising Star Chef award, an honor for chefs under 30, in 2012-14 and a finalist in 2014. She was a finalist for Best Chef Southeast last year.

Irani is the chef behind the Asheville-based Chai Pani, which also has a Decatur, Georgia, location. He also owns the Atlanta-based Botiwalla, and Spicewalla and Buxton Hall, both in Asheville.

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The is the fourth time Irani has been nominated for Best Chef Southeast.

Will this be his year?

"It's really competitive in the Southeast — great chefs in this region," Irani said. Indeed, there are 20 nominees in that category alone. "I'm over the moon to be nominated."

Speaking of Buxton Hall, the barbecue restaurant's talented baker Ashley Capps is a semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

Capps has become well-known for her prowess with pies and cakes, elevating sometimes humble desserts into something worth, well, a James Beard Award.

Are these chefs winners?

Not yet.

This round determines the semifinalists. There's another round of winnowing to come, with the final restaurant and chef ward nominees, as well as the nominations for media and restaurant design awards, to be announced at 10 a.m. March 27.

Nominees will be live-tweeted via the James Beard Foundation Twitter feed.

After the finalists are announced, the foundation will continue to narrow down the list, with awards to be bestowed to the winners in May.

How are winners determined?

The James Beard Foundation holds an annual online open call for entries beginning in mid-October. The public is invited to participate in this round.

The foundation also solicits nominations from an independent volunteer group of more than 250 panelists.

The panelists are anonymous, and selected with an eye toward regional representation.

That round of nominations is then reviewed by the foundation's Restaurant and Chef Committee for eligibility and, again, regional representation — you can't have the bulk of nominees concentrated in New York, for example.

The committee then produces a ballot listing the semifinalists in each of the 21 Restaurant and Chef Award categories. This is where we stand now.

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Very soon thereafter, more than 600 judges from across the country are called upon to determine the final nominees in each category.

The same judges, including leading regional restaurant critics and food writers, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past James Beard Award winners, then vote on nominees to select the winners.

The governing awards committee, board of trustees and staff of the James Beard Foundation do not vote, and the results are kept confidential until the presentation of winners in May.

Where can I try the food the chefs make?

Very good question.

Buxton Hall: 32 Banks Ave.

Chai Pani: 22 Battery Park Ave.

Cúrate: 13 Biltmore Ave.

Button & Co. Bagels: 32 S Lexington Ave.