The Auburn couple and business partners who are semifinalists for an ultra-prestigious James Beard Award were still processing the nomination news late Wednesday morning.
Courtney McDonald and Eric Alexander were “totally shocked” to find out one of the country’s highest marks in the culinary industry had acknowledged them and their eatery, Restaurant Josephine, as one of the best in California.
“Looking at this list of amazing chefs in these amazing cities, and seeing Auburn on the list, as an Auburn native, it just makes me really excited,” McDonald said. “I’m still having hard time, like even talking about it. But yeah, what a surprise.”
The Restaurant Josephine owner-operators were in good company among 19 other chefs from across the state. The 20 semifinalists in the Best Chef: California category primarily resided in the Bay Area and Los Angeles area, with a combined five Michelin stars and 13 Michelin-listed restaurants.
“It’s very, just surprising to me,” Alexander said. “We work hard to do the best food we can and have the best restaurant we can, and, you know, it’s good to be acknowledged.”
Chef Eric Alexander, co-owner of Restaurant Josephine, works in the kitchen during dinner service Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Auburn. Alexander and his wife and business partner, Courtney McDonald, were named as semifinalists for a 2026 James Beard Award on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. Xavier Mascareñas Sacramento Bee file Honoring French cuisine and Eastern European roots
The husband-and-wife duo launched Restaurant Josephine, named for Alexander’s Lithuanian great-grandmother, in November 2020. Prior to owning their own restaurant, they were at the helm of Carpe Vino in Auburn, which since closed.
After years of working in fine dining across the country, McDonald and Alexander have settled down at their homey bistro, which McDonald described as “unpretentious, loud, busy” and “fun.”
Bits of inspiration from Alexander’s heritage peek through in various aspects of the French eatery.
According to the restaurant’s website, the logo features the elegant looping signature found on Alexander’s great-grandmother’s Ellis Island paperwork, while the decorative chicken motifs reference an Eastern European paper-cutting custom.
On the menu, traditional French dishes like duck liver mousse get a touch of Slavic influence with a preserved baby pine cone garnish, imported from Siberia. The eatery’s classic Caesar salad swaps anchovies out for smoked Baltic Sprats fish, and croutons are made out of dark Eastern European borodinsky rye bread.
“Over the years, just learning more about my own culinary heritage, we kind of wanted to work … some of those Eastern European ingredients into the French lexicon,” Alexander said.
In true bistro spirit, chalkboards propped up around the restaurant announce daily and seasonal food and drink specials. Local farms and growers recently provided chicory, apples, cilantro sprouts, kohlrabi and more, according to Alexander. The couple also uses pomegranates from their own farm on the menu.
“I think it’s such a great way to showcase our Placer County farms that have been here for a very long time,” McDonald said. “Most farms in Placer County are 10 acres or less. And there’s a real unique way to work with farms that are that small. It’s so direct, and I think that the reciprocal support between restaurants and farms in our area is … just really exciting.”
Restaurant Josephines pork and baby onion dish is photographed Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Auburn. The restaurant’s owners, Eric Alexander and Courtney McDonald, were named as semifinalists for a 2026 James Beard Award on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. Xavier Mascareñas Sacramento Bee file Restaurant staff are to thank for the James Beard nod
Alexander and McDonald expressed deep gratitude for their staff members, who they said are the driving force behind Restaurant Josephine’s smooth operations and local success.
“It’s not just the food,” Alexander said. “When you walk in and you sit down in a restaurant, how you feel is so much based on the service you get … every person you’re in contact with during that experience.”
The owners still remain extremely hands-on at the restaurant, including cooking the staff’s meals every morning — and the James Beard nomination morning was not an exception.
The foodie power couple take pride in being in the restaurant for day-to-day operations, saying it feels “real and authentic.”
“(Being nominated) feels awesome as owner-operators,” McDonald said. “We’re here all the time, we’re doing the work. We have a great team to support us, but we don’t have a marketing team or a PR team.”
“We’re not worried about self-promoting, so that’s just another reason why it’s so shocking to be nominated,” she said.
Loading…
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 3:44 PM.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
Camila Pedrosa
The Sacramento Bee
Camila Pedrosa is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked as a summer reporting intern for The Bee and reported in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.
Dining and Cooking