Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, has been named a finalist for Best Chef: Southeast in the 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards. Announced Monday afternoon, March 18, at Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charleston, S.C., this year’s James Beard Award finalists were selected by an independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges across the country.

Chef Satterfield’s finalist nomination recognizes him as a chef who has set new or consistent standards of excellence in the Southeast region, along with chef Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, N.C.; chef Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky.; chef Joseph Lenn from The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn.; and chef Tandy Wilson from City House in Nashville, Tenn.

A Georgia native who spent his childhood in Savannah, chef Satterfield partnered with co-owner Neal McCarthy in 2009 to open Miller Union, a sophisticated Southern restaurant offering sustainable and locally sourced cuisine. Satterfield incorporates his grandmother’s simple approach to cooking, canning, preserving and using local ingredients in his culinary philosophy and also continues to develop deep connections with local growers, dairies and producers to curate the best ingredients the South has to offer.

As a member of Slow Food Atlanta, Georgia Organics and the Southern Foodways Alliance, Satterfield is actively engaged with Atlanta’s progressive culinary community.

In 2011 and 2012, Satterfield was nominated for Food & Wine magazine’s “People’s Best New Chef,” following Miller Union’s placement on the “Best New Restaurants in America” lists from Bon Appetit and Esquire, as well as Atlanta Magazine’s “Restaurant of the Year” in 2010.

The James Beard Foundation recognized Miller Union as a semifinalist for the national award of best new restaurant in 2010.

2013 James Beard Foundation Award winners, including the winner of Best Chef Southeast, will be announced on May 6, 2013, at an awards ceremony held in New York’s Lincoln Center.