South Florida Chefs Shut Out At The Beard Awards
Well, that was a bit of a disappointment. Not the event itself, of course, just the fact that all three South Florida chefs got shut out in the "Best Chef: South" category. John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, Miss. beat out locals Michael Schwartz, Zach Bell and Douglas Rodriguez, as well as John Harris of Lilette in New Orleans. We figured with three of the five nominees in the category that there was a good chance one of the South Florida locals would take home the award, but we failed to note that this was Currence's fourth nomination. He was due.
The theme for this year's event was "Women in Food," and there was plenty of pink all over Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall to remind everyone that the ladies were in charge here. Unfortunately, they weren't so in charge in the awards department — only two female chefs took home medals — but the gala reception belonged to female chefs, several of whom were former JBF Award winners. Among them: Miami favorite Michelle Bernstein, who handed out pressed sea urchin sandwiches on Cuban bread with a small cup of coffee served with what looked like a dollop of cream but turned out to be a creamy seafood soup. We certainly would never have thought to put soup in our coffee, but it worked somehow.
While weaving from table to table sampling food, we tried to keep an eye out for any of the three South Florida nominees, but it was impossible to find anyone among the crowd. As luck would have it, we ended up being pushed by the crowd right past Michael Schwartz and had approximately 30 seconds with him. In that time we gleaned that he a) was enjoying himself, b) was OK with the fact that he had not won, and c) was trying to get a taste of the goat tongue tacos at Loretta Keller's table.
For more notes from last night, check out our twitter or the recaps at MP: Chicago, MP: Boston, MP: Philadelphia and Grub Street. A full list of winners is after the jump.
Restaurant and Chefs Awards Winners:
Best New Restaurant: Momofuku Ko, owner David Chang
Outstanding Service: Daniel, owner Daniel Boloud
Outstanding Restaurateur: Drew Nieporent, Myriad Restaurant Group
Outstanding Restaurant: Jean Georges, owner Jean Georges Vongerichten
Outstanding Chef: Dan Barber, Blue Hill
Outstanding Wine Service: Le Bernardin
Wine & Spirits Pro: Dale DeGroff
The Best Chef (Northwest): Maria Hines, Tilth
The Best Chef (Pacific): Douglas Keane, Cyrus
The Best Chef (Southwest): Paul Bartolotta, Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare
The Best Chef (South): John Currence, City Grocery
The Best Chef (Southeast): Mike Lata, Fig
The Best Chef (Mid-Atlantic): Jose Garces, Armada
The Best Chef (New York City): Gabriel Kreuther, The Modern
The Best Chef (Northeast): Rob Evans, Hugo's
Best Chef (Midwest): Tim McKee, La Belle Vie
Best Chef (Great Lakes): Michael Symon, Lola
Rising Star: Nate Appleman, A16 and SPQR
Restaurant Graphics: Denise Korn/Javier Cortés/Bryant Ross (Corner Office)
Restaurant Design: Thomas Schlesser (Publican)
Cookbook Awards Winners:
Book Awards
For cookbooks published in English in 2008.
American Cooking
"Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook"
by Martha Hall Foose
(Clarkson Potter)
Baking
"Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking"
by Shirley O. Corriher
(Scribner)
Beverage
"WineWise: Your Complete Guide to Understanding, Selecting and Enjoying Wine"
by Steven Kolpan, Brian H. Smith and Michael A. Weiss, The Culinary Institute of America
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Cooking From a Professional Point of View
"Alinea"
by Grant Achatz
(Achatz LLC/Ten Speed Press)
General Cooking
"How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition)"
by Mark Bittman
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Healthy Focus
"The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life"
by Ellie Krieger
(The Taunton Press, Inc.)
International
"Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China"
by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
(Artisan)
Photography
"The Big Fat Duck Cookbook"
Photographer: Dominic Davies
Artist: Dave McKean
(Bloomsbury USA)
Reference and Scholarship
"The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs"
by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
(Little, Brown and Company)
Single Subject
"Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes"
by Jennifer McLagan
(Ten Speed Press)
Writing and Literature
"In Defense of Food"
by Michael Pollan
(The Penguin Press)
Humanitarian of the Year: Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest).
Lifetime Achievement: Ella Brennan of the Brennan Family of Restaurants, including Commander's Palace.
2009 America's Classics: Arnold's Country Kitchen, Breitbach's Country Dining, Mustache Bill's Diner, Totonno's and Yank Sing
Photo: Helen Rosner of MP: Chicago
