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The shortlist for the 2016 James Beard Awards nominees is out and one of the names you will see might be familiar to eastern Long Island foodies.

Chef Guy Reuge of Stony Brook’s Mirabelle Tavern — one of our favorite restaurants located just outside the North Fork — made the cut for the Best Chef: Northeast Region award.

The semi-finalist list for that particular award includes 20 chefs from New York to Maine, excluding those from New York City, which are listed in a separate category. Reuge, who was also nominated for the award in 2015, is the only Long Island chef listed as a semi-finalist.

The James Beard Foundation Awards are widely considered to be the highest honors in the food world.

While we generally only cover eateries located east of Wading River, Mirabelle is certainly worth the trip west. It’s a great to spot to sip some Lenz Merlot and munch on chickpea fries while waiting for a movie at nearby AMC Loews Stony Brook 17 movie theater or to enjoy an entire multi-course meal. While we are not as familiar with Mirabelle as our local restaurants, we can’t ever recall having a less-than stellar meal there.

Plus, the restaurant serves Long Island wines on its menu.

Chef Reuge, who Edible Long Island called “France’s gift to Long Island” in an April 2014 writeup, has been cooking at Mirabelle for 31 years. He and his wife, Maria, opened the eatery in a St. James farmhouse in 1983 and moved its name and cooking style to the Stony Brook location in 2008, according to a 2013 Edible feature.

“Reuge is truly le grand fromage of the culinary world, minus any and all of the attitude and hype,” the article states.

Reuge has received many accolades for his cooking over the years.

He won the prestigious Toque d’Argent from France’s Les Maîtres Cuisiniers de France (Society of Master Chefs) in 2006.

The James Beard Foundation Awards finalists will be announced Tuesday, March 15. The 2015 James Beard Awards gala will be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, May 2, when the winners will be named.

Photo credit: Google Map image

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