Patrick Ryan, the chef-owner behind Kansas City’s trendy Mexican hotspot Port Fonda and its sister location in Lawrence, is a semifinalist in this year’s James Beard Awards.

Port Fonda, which opened its Lawrence location last fall, shared the news via Facebook on Wednesday. For the second year in a row, Ryan is a semifinalist in the “Best Chef: Midwest” category of the awards, which are essentially the Oscars of the culinary world.

Selected from a list of more than 20,000 online entries, this year’s semifinalists represent the most prestigious restaurants, chefs and dining experts nationwide, according to a James Beard news release.

The James Beard Foundation announces its final nominees (Ryan and his fellow semifinalists still face some whittling down) March 15. Check out a full list of semifinalists here.