Roch. chef semi-finalist for national rising star award

The James Beard Foundation, a national big culinary group, announced the semi-finalists for its 2009 awards.

And a Rochester chef - Justin Schoville – is in the running with 21 other chefs from San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland, Washington D.C. and Seattle.

Schoville is the chef at Sontes , the tapas restaurant in downtpown Rochester in the former Wong's building.

Here's the list he is on:

RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR
Nate Appleman, A16, San Francisco
Sean Brock, McCrady’s, Charleston, SC
Aaron Deal, Tristan, Charleston, SC
Sonja Finn, Dinette, Pittsburgh
Evan Funke, Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen, Santa Monica, CA
Vannessa Garcia, Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo, Las Vegas
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta
Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, MA
Sarah Kosikowski, Michael Mina at Bellagio, Las Vegas
Jackson Kramer, Interim Restaurant & Bar, Memphis
Travis Lett, Gjelina, Venice, CA
Jonathan McDonald, Pub & Kitchen, Philadelphia
Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C.
Dave Racicot, Lautrec at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA
Charles "Chip" Roman, Blackfish, Conshohocken, PA
Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, OR
J ustin S chov ille, Söntés , Rochester, MN
Ryan Skeen,  Irving Mill , NYC
Michael Solomonov, Zahav, Philadelphia
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis
Rachel Yang, Joule, Seattle
Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans