ELLSWORTH — When foodies argue over are the icons of the American culinary scene, two names are always at the head of the list — Julia Child and James Beard.

Rich Hansen, chef and co-owner of Cleonice Mediterranean Bistro in Ellsworth, is among 20 nominees for the James Beard Association’s 2008 Outstanding Chef in the Northeast.—STAFF PHOTO BY STEPHEN RAPPAPORT

Over the course of a career spanning more than 50 years, Beard authored more than a dozen cookbooks, including the classic “The James Beard Cookbook,” wrote countless columns for magazines such as Women’s Day and Gourmet, appeared, in 1946, on television’s first cooking show and on countless shows thereafter, and founded the influential James Beard Cooking School in New York City.

The chef and author died in 1985 and a year later the James Beard Foundation was established in the New York City townhouse where Beard lived and worked. With an announced mission “to promote the culinary arts,” the foundation provides a wide range of educational opportunities both to aspiring chefs and to dedicated epicures who get the chance to improve their knowledge of food and wine by participating in a variety of seminars and gourmet dinners prepared by world-class chefs in the kitchen of the James Beard House.

Since 1990, the foundation has sponsored the prestigious annual James Beard Awards. This year Rich Hansen, chef and owner of the Ellsworth restaurant Cleonice, is in the running for one of those awards.

Perhaps the most highly coveted honor among American chefs and food and wine professionals, the Beard Awards are presented in more than a dozen categories. Some, such as “Outstanding Restaurateur,” “Outstanding Pastry Chef” and “Rising Star Chef of the Year,” are national in scope, as is the “Outstanding Chef” award. There are also awards for the outstanding chef in each of 10 geographical regions of the United States. One of those regions is the Northeast, encompassing Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Award winners are chosen by a panel of independent judges including food writers, chefs, restaurant owners who are not eligible for awards while they are judges. Each February, the judges select a preliminary list of 20 potential recipients in each category from a pool of nominees. This year, Hansen was among the candidates for Outstanding Chef in the Northeast.

“It’s very exciting,” Hansen said this week. “It’s a very prestigious award and just being included is quite an honor.”

Usually, Hansen said, nominees from the Northeast region come mostly from the Boston area. This year, though, there are five from Maine, among them Brian Hill, chef of Francine Bistro in Camden, and the team of Megan Chase, Penelle Chase, Phoebe Chase and Ted Lafage, the chefs at Chase’s Daily in Belfast.

“It’s a sign the restaurant scene in Maine is very vibrant,” Hansen said.

Hansen and his wife opened Cleonice in 2002. Before that, he cooked at Jonathan’s in Blue Hill after moving to Maine from Massachusetts, where he received his culinary training, in 1993.

Hansen described his cooking style as “ingredient driven,” featuring “traditional recipes and my take on traditional recipes.” He called his nomination “a great tribute to the hard work of the staff, and the people in the area that made us popular,” and expressed his pleasure at being on the list.

“Even if it doesn’t happen this year,” he said, speaking of winning, “now we’re in the sensibilities of the judges and it’s up to us to keep doing our job right.”

The preliminary list will be winnowed to five finalists later this month. The winners will be announced at a Beard House gala in June.