The first ever Garden State Culinary Arts Awards will be held in Eatontown this weekend.

The awards are modeled after the prestigious National James Beard Foundation Awards. Awards will be given for such categories as best restaurant, best new restaurant, rising star chef and outstanding pastry chef.

Graze in Little Silver is one of the restaurants nominated in the best restaurant category.

The restaurant features all types of food, including Brazilian, French and Italian. It focuses on using local New Jersey products.

Executive chef Laercio Chamon also teaches butchering classes and teaches his customers to use every part of the animal in the cooking. He says that the classes and the chef’s table experience are things that make Graze stand out the best from other restaurants.

“It’s very educational. You’d be surprised of the things people aren’t aware of,” Chamon says. “We’re trying to show how important it is to support local.”

The awards will be voted on by about 100 independent judges from around the Garden State.