Lumpia Queen Abi Marquez Is in the Running for a James Beard Award, One of the Highest Honors in Food

 

Lumpia Queen Abi Marquez is nominated in the social media account category of the prestigious James Beard 2024 Media Awards. This recognition comes at the heels of her recent People’s Voice win at the 28th Annual Webby Awards. 

The James Beard Awards are some of the highest honors in the culinary and food media industries, recognizing leaders and innovators throughout the food system. Included in its roster of previous winners are world-famous chefs such as Massimo Bottura and David Chang and media works such as Dominique Ansel’s MasterClass and Salt Fat Acid Heat. 

With over 3.3 million followers on TikTok, 23 year-old Marquez is one of the leading food content creators from the Philippines. She shot to fame with her own take on the lumpia or Filipino spring roll, creating iterations inspired by popular fast food desserts, savory delicacies, and global food favorites. As she grew in following, she would forge creative collaborations with brands and global culinary superstars for the world to see. 

“Growing up watching cooking contests on TV, I was always curious that the judges typically had a James Beard award in their credentials. That stirred up a dream in me to have a James Beard award, too,” Marquez shares. “And for the nomination to happen this year, at this time in my career as a content creator? It feels like a dream.” 

Marquez is temporarily in Los Angeles, collaborating with other creators, making new content, and enjoying some downtime between her recent Webby award acceptance in New York City and the James Beard event in Chicago on June 8th. Earlier this month, she shared a real-time reaction video of her finding out about the prestigious nomination. 

“We are thrilled to be working with Abi whose talent has been paying off in many ways,” enthuses Kat Bautista, Head of Talent at Marquez’s agency NYMA. “She ended 2023 winning Foodie Content Creator of the Year at Tiktok and this year, won at the Hashtag Asia and Webby Awards and was inducted to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Her nomination by the James Beard Foundation is a true career highlight. She makes us proud at NYMA and Kroma Entertainment—and we’re glad to see how fellow Filipinos have been supportive of her, too.” 

In this year’s James Beard Media Awards, Marquez is competing with KJ Kearney’s Black Food Fridays and Randy Lau’s Made With Lau for Social Media Account honors. 

“It’s my honor to make the Philippines proud. Maraming salamat po sa suporta ninyo. I will be home soon!” Marquez tells her fans and followers.