Chefs with SF's SPQR, Liholiho Yacht Club talk after James Beard award nominations announced

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards were announced on Tuesday, and several Bay Area businesses and chefs made the list.

If a little birdie told you that it was glamorous to own and operate a high-end San Francisco restaurant, then clearly you have never visited one eight hours before opening time.

"I am not above any work. The first thing you figure out in a restaurant, especially one this size, is that it's not very helpful to think you're above anything," said Matthew Accarrino of SPQR.

Accarrino heard his name on Tuesday. He has been nominated as the best chef in what amounts to the Oscars of food -- the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago.

"It's an award given to industry professional by industry professionals," said Accarrino.

The awards honored several San Francisco establishments, including Liholiho Yacht Club on Sutter Street, which received a best new restaurant nomination for their Hawaiian fare.

Owner and chef Ravi Kapur was working when his wife, April, read about it online.

"None of this could have happened without another part of the process," said Kapur.

Process. We heard a lot of that word from both chefs. In these places, the process of your 7 p.m. meal often begins at 7 a.m.

"They say the devil is in the details," said Accarrino. "Everything is in the details."

So says the New Jersey kid who wanted to be a professional cyclist, but broke his leg and got addicted to cooking while recovering.

Awards are nice, he says, especially in a business where you're only as good as your last meal.

"You will never achieve perfection, you will never achieve exactly the same thing every day, but you can try," he said.

All part of the process.

Other Bay Area chefs and restaurants have been nominated. Click here for a full list of the 2016 nominees.