Yotaka Martin of Lom Wong restaurant in downtown Phoenix has won her first James Beard Award for Best Chef — Southwest. The James Beard Awards — the Oscars of the restaurant industry — were ...

On Monday, Lom Wong’s Yokata “Sunny” Martin won the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southwest, beating out other chefs from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Oklahoma.

From left, Alex Martin and Yotaka "Sunny" Promtun-Martin, and Nuthapong "Thunder" Vance pose for a portrait outside their new restaurant Lom Wong on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Phoenix.