WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — If you’ve eaten at Sweet Potatoes restaurant in Winston-Salem, you know what the hype is about. The restaurant opened in 2003, but Chef Stephanie Tyson’s been cooking way longer than that.

What You Need To Know

  • Stephanie Tyson is up for a James Beard award for Best Chef in the Southeast region

  • She's been cooking over 25 years

  • Tyson started as a front-of-house manager, but when a cook quit, she had to step in

She was thrust into the role accidentally one night as a front-of-the-house manager at a previous job.

“About 25 years ago, managing this kitchen, one of the cooks walked out. I didn’t know what to do,” Tyson said. “So, at the point, it’s like, you know what, it’s not going to happen to me again. So I decided to go to culinary school.”

“We kind of moved from Baltimore, D.C., South Carolina and Charleston, Key West, Florida, and Arizona, back to Baltimore,” she said.

However, it wasn’t easy being away from the Tar Heel State.

“After so many years, it was just time to come home,” Tyson said.

Home — Winston-Salem — is where she’s now up for a regional James Beard Award for Best Chef, one of the most prestigious in the restaurant business.

“Totally surprised. I mean, just really surprised, it’s really cool,” she said. "It’s such an honor to be like, out of all these great people, to be in the semifinals, that’s really cool.”

The award named her and eight other North Carolinians as semifinalists for the Southeast region, which includes Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

“I’m just really happy that they’re finally recognizing North Carolina, the Triad,” Tyson said. “I mean, we scored, which is great.”

Even in a state rich with food, Tyson shines bright. Every smile that she brings to her customers’ faces drives her to come in to the restaurant on Trade Street every day.

“Aside from paying the mortgage, yes!” she said with a laugh. “This place is more than just a restaurant. It’s a respite for a lot of people.”

One of the other eight semifinalists for Best Chef in the Southeast is Peyton Smith at Mission Pizza Napoletena, also on Trade Street in Winston-Salem. 

Winners will be announced in June.