Posted on June 9th, 2008
The winners of the 2008 James Beard Foundation Awards announced Sunday night, June 8th, include:
Restaurants and Chefs, National
Outstanding Restaurateur: Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali, Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, New York
Outstanding Chef: Grant Achatz, Alinea, Chicago
Outstanding Restaurant: Gramercy Tavern, New York (Danny Meyer)
Outstanding New Restaurant: Central Michel Richard, Washington (Michel Richard)
Rising Star Chef: Gavin Kaysen, Cafe Boulud, New York
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, Tartine Bakery, San Francisco
Outstanding Wine Service: Eleven Madison Park, New York
Oustanding Wine and Spirits Professional: Terry Theise, Terry Theise Estate Selections, Silver Spring, Md.
Outstanding Service: Terra, St. Helena, Calif.
Chefs - Regional
Best Chef: Great Lakes - Carrie Nahabedian, Naha, Chicago
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic - Eric Ziebold, CityZen, Washington, DC
Best Chef: Midwest - Adam Siegel, Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro, Milwaukee
Best Chef: New York - David Chang, Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York
Best Chef: Northeast - Patrick Connolly, Radius, Boston
Best Chef: Northwest - Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita, Kirkland, Wash.
Best Chef: Southwest - Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colo.
Best Chef: South - Michelle Bernstein, Michy’s, Miami
Best Chef: Southeast - Robert Stehling, Hominy Grill, Charleston, S.C.
Best Chef: Pacific - Craig Stoll, Delfina, San Francisco
Books
Cookbook of the Year - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, “The River Cottage Meat Book”
Cookbook Hall of Fame - Paula Wolfert, “Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco”
Asian Cooking - Niloufer Ichaporia King, “My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking”
Baking and Dessert - Peter Reinhart, “Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor”
Cooking from a Professional Point of View - The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate, “The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine”
Entertaining - Trish Magwood, “Dish Entertains”
Americana - Jean Anderson, “A Love Affair with Southern Cooking”
General - James Peterson, “Cooking”
Healthy Focus - Jean Harvey-Berino with Joyce Hendley and the editors of EatingWell magazine, “The EatingWell Diet”
International - Anne Willan, “The Country Cooking of France”
Reference - Rowan Jacobsen, “A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Oyster Eating in North America”
Single Subject - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, “The River Cottage Meat Book”
Wine and Spirits - David Wondrich, “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar”
Writing on Food - Barbara Kingsolver, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life”
Photography - Photographer: France Ruffenach, “The Country Cooking of France” by Anne Willan
Also ….
Television Food Segment, National or Local: The Victory Garden, PBS
Television Food Special: Top Chef Holiday Special, Bravo
Television Food Show, National or Local: Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie, American Public Television
Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant, or Nutrition: Epicurious.com, Tanya Steel
Multimedia Writing on Food: Josh Ozersky and Daniel Maurer, nymag.com, “Grub Street”
Posted on May 17th, 2008
We’ve mentioned Foxwoods before back in March. Well, finally the casino’s expansion, plus the opening of the MGM Grand there, all happens this weekend. And of course while there are tons of new and wild things to mention about rooms and casinos and such — we’re choosing to ignore all of that and just concentrate on the food. From the Hartford Courant:
Foxwoods was always bigger, but foodwise, Mohegan Sun cast a large shadow over its nearby casino neighbor. With Michael Jordan’s Steak House, Todd English’s Tuscany, Jasper White’s Summer Shack, SolToro Tequila Grill and many other venues that offered great burgers, barbecue and Asian fare, Mohegan Sun always trumped Foxwoods when it came to good eats.
That changes this weekend. With three high-powered chefs opening restaurants at Foxwoods Resort Casino and the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods, the casino giant in Mashantucket can now rightly claim that it’s as much a culinary destination as a gaming and resort destination. With the arrival of Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak and Michael Schlow’s Alta Strada (both at MGM Grand, which opens this weekend) and David Burke’s Burke in the Box (which opens this weekend at Foxwoods, to be followed later in the summer by a lavish steakhouse called David Burke Prime), Foxwoods is now a culinary high roller.
In other news, from the Associated Press via the NY Times:
Robert Mondavi, the vintner who built his career and helped an iconic Northern California industry blossom by insisting that Napa Valley wines can compete with the best in the world, died in the valley Friday. He was 94. […] ”It is hard to imagine anyone having more of a lasting impact on California’s $20 billion-a-year wine industry than Robert Mondavi,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
[…] When Mondavi opened his winery, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages, a bold move. His confidence was rewarded in 1976 when California wines beat some well-known French vintages in the famous tasting known as the Judgment of Paris.
L to R: Peter Mondavi, Sr., Magrit Mondavi, Martha Stewart and Lee Schrager and Robert Mondavi, (seated)
And lastly, CBS spends nearly two billion dollars to acquire the vast CNet holdings. From The Times:
CBS said Thursday it would buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion in cash, marking its biggest online acquisition since hiring Quincy Smith, a former media and technology investment banker, to lead its interactive unit in late 2006. The deal came as CNET, whose assets include a popular technology-news Web site, was trying to fend off a group of activist investors seeking to take control of its board of directors.
And from CBS itself a list of CNETs holdings and why they wanted it:
Based in San Francisco, CNET Networks owns many of the Internet’s leading entertainment, news and information sites including CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com, CNET news.com, UrbanBaby, CHOW, Search.com, BNET, MySimon and TechRepublic. The company, which reported significant profits in 2007 on revenues of $406 million, has a large international footprint, particularly in China.
The news to us foodies is that in buying CNET, CBS now owns Chow.com and the ChowHound food forums.
Posted on May 3rd, 2008
In the past month’s restaurant happenings, the top story — many folks have been looking forward to this for as long as a year — is that Alain Ducasse has at last opened a stateside outpost of his casual Paris and Tokyo bistros of the same name: Benoit in the space that was formerly La Côte Basque at 60 W. 55th St in Manhattan.
The restaurant retains the polished, old-world look of its former self and feature a collection of antiques sourced from Ducasse’s personal collection. Executive chef Sebastien Rondier will serve a traditional French bistro menu with classics like roasted chicken with French fries mon ami Louis-style, steak au poivre with pommes soufflés, tarte tatin, and for dessert, vanilla profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce. To drink, there will be a 300 bottle wine list as well as a collection of Champagne martinis like Le Crazy Horse, made from blueberry vodka, lemon juice, mint and champagne.
Originally scheduled to open 10 days prior (nothing new about restaurant openings being 6 days to six months late!), the official launch was Thursday, May 1st. Gordon Ramsay was among those who made it there opening night.
In other restaurant news: Award-winning French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has opened a new branch of Spice Market by Jean-Georges in Istanbul at the recently opened W Istanbul in Akatlar district on April 8. Spice Market has won critical acclaim wherever it opened around the world. Its menu, especially prepared for Istanbul, was expanded to include traditional tastes from Turkey. The restaurant carries southeastern Asia’s culinary culture to the heart of the city …
Five years after a chilly Atlanta reception and a string of bad reviews, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse is closing his Buckhead restaurant at the end of April. Rumors of its closing have circulated for months, but Atlanta-based restaurant owner and chef Tom Catherall confirmed Emeril’s was on the chopping block and its location at 3500 Lenox Road was primed for his new Asian-concept restaurant, Aja …
And now the latest trend: Restaurateurs opening up hotels too.
Robert De Niro plans to open Nobu Hotel, a Japanese-themed hotel-condo complex housing an outpost of the famous restaurant, in the financial district. … And Gordon Ramsay is also getting involved in the hotel business, having just purchased a 10-room boutique called York & Albany. His friend, chef Angela Hartnett will be running the kitchens, though.
Posted on April 11th, 2008
S. Irene Virbila, Restaurant Critic for the LA Times, just did a really nice piece where she reviewed the state of restaurants in Vegas (patrons paying lots of money everywhere) and reviews the new star restaurants, particularly those at “thee” new casino in town, that are causing a lot of fuss.
Beginning with “At $160 for two, it’s easily the most expensive steak I’ve ever eaten, if not the most expensive piece of aged meat in the country.” to how “in a private dining room floating above a state-of-the-art kitchen, six businessmen spend a minimum of $350 each to work their way through the tasting menu at Restaurant Charlie” the article goes on to say:
Though everybody may be pinching pennies at home, Las Vegas seems untouched by the prevailing winds of economic downturn, operating by its own rules and logic. The economy may be contracting elsewhere, but here the casinos are still building. And building [….]
[Where people can] indulge in an opulent multi-course meal from a French chef with three Michelin stars — actually, there are three three-star chefs here — what could possibly be next? Less flash, less gimmickry — and less invention. This time around, menus are more traditional, the design sometimes so conservative you can’t believe you’re in Vegas. They’re luring in crowds with no more than good food, high comfort and great service. And for that, they’re charging enough to give even high rollers indigestion.
The review goes on to highlight the new restaurants at the Palazzo: Mario Batali’s and Joe Bastianich’s Carnevino, Wolfgang Puck’s Cut — whose opening night grabbed even our attention — Charlie Trotter’s Restaurant Charlie, Emeril Lagasse’s Table 10 and — not in a casino and so far off the beaten path as to be difficult to find — maverick chef Louis Osteen’s eaterie called Louis’s Las Vegas.
While they’re having busy restaurants full of foodies tossing the money their way, they’re not — Robin Leach chastises — getting the respect they deserve from this year’s James Beard Awards. Or at least not as much as Leach thinks they should be getting specifically for their Vegas-centered restaurants:
It’s hard to believe but totally true that in the newest list of nominees in 52 different categories for the James Beard Foundation Awards not one Vegas celebrity chef or resort restaurant gets a tip of the toque for food!
Cooling down briefly he says: “In interests of fairness I will point out that some East Coast and West Coast ‘name’ chefs who have restaurants here were recognized for their ‘outstanding talents’ ranging from best cookbook, to best TV show to best new restaurant—but none of their Vegas based operations won any praise whatsoever.”
But then, making some good points, he says back:
So where were our superstars: Michael Mina, Paul Bartolotta, Bradley Ogden, Martin Heirling, David Robins, Julian Serrano, Barry Dakake, Andre Rochat, Alex Stratta, Michael Jordan, Kerry Simon, Steve Martorano — let alone the big VIP names of Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller, Nobu Matsuhisa, David Burke? I apologize if I’ve omitted any of my chef friends but the smoke is steaming out of my ears and I’m thumping my keyboard way too hard!
Robin’s heated tirade ends with “We are ahead in every respect of so many eateries in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. It’s totally unfair and a case purely of effete New York City foodie snobbism” — and a call for a boycott of the Beards ceremony.
Remind me never to get Mr. Leach annoyed. And I mean that!
Posted on April 8th, 2008
©2008 Harry Kenney
I’ve been working on this article for a week or so now. Funny thing, it started out as talking about two cities, Philadelphia in the US and Vancouver in Canada. Why? Because to me both are excellent food cities and yet both have not gotten the respect they deserve from the culinary world. So while different, they have much in common; additionally, I didn’t think I’d have enough to write on each city by themselves (again, why is that? From being ignored or underplayed in the food press.)
I’m a Philadelphian myself and it’s odd how, writing about this chef, that chef, this city, that city — heck I even did something on Beijing last month — yet I don’t get to write anything about Philly as it gets a bum wrap. So it has been very odd and thrilling to in the last week suddenly see Philly pop up in the press, multiple times and in outstanding ways. There’s Burke being named as one of the Best New Chefs of 2008 last week; and then chef Garces is up for a Beard award. Plus two Vetri eateries are up for Beard’s and then the dramatic development with Philly’s cooking patriarch, Perrier, just yesterday, I’m aflood (is that a word?) with things to write about all of a sudden! Ok, so, Vancouver, you get your own article later this week, for now, it’s Philadelphia’s time to shine.
Old Time meets the New Chefs
Go back just 10 years ago and a list of the top 10 restaurants in the U.S. would often have five in NYC, three in LA and one in Chicago and one in Philly (ususaly it was Georges Perrier’s Le Bec-Fin and probably also Le Circe). If it were a top 20, Philadelphia always had a mininum of three, and in some years 5 restaurants in the list. Now, people dismiss it. It’s like Baltimore’s problem being so close to D.C., except again, New York’s shadow falls deeper upon Philadelphia. And yet, look at the James Beard Awards Semi-Finalists and you’ll see six chefs and several restaurants. Look at the finalists and you see two restaurants and a chef.
What makes things even odder for Philadelphia is that is a big city (the fourth largest in the country) and casts it’s shadown over Atlantic City just sixty-some-odd miles southwest, and so when you put the combination of Philly and AC together, that should make for some mighty haute-cuisine power. Whethere Zagat or the snooty NY Times or whomever looks or overlooks it, the fact is, Philly’s reputation as a fine dining area is as good as ever and getting better.
Ripert’s Restaurant Opens in May
The biggest news is the arrival of superstar French chef Eric Ripert whose 10 Arts will be opening in May (May 10th to be exact) as part of the The Ritz-Carlton Hotel , just footsteps away from both City Hall and the Kimmel Arts Center. Ripert was named Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation and his New York City restaurant, Le Bernardin, has been recognized by the Zagat Guide as Best Food in the U.S. the past four years.
This year Philadelphia’s Osteria (Marc Vetri’s place) is up for Best New Restaurant in the country and another famous venue by the same owners, Vetri, is up for Outstanding Service Award. Jose Garces at Amada is considered one of the best rising-star chefs in the country — and in the running for a Beard Award — and he also has a Basque wine bar: Tinto. There are “destination restaurants” such as Fountain at the Four Seasons Hotel (a perennial Zagat’s number one favorite), Lacroix, Morimoto (opened by the Iron Chef who left it and went to NY and his protege is getting as high or higher marks without him), along with long-time staples as Stephen Starr’s Buddakan and the venerable Striped Bass. Smaller restaurants with up-and-coming chefs include James with chef James Burke — just named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs 2008 — and Xochitl by Dionicio Jimenez reflect only the tip of the fine-dining ‘berg.
And There’s Nearby Atlantic City
Toss in the star restaurants that have been added to Atlantic City’s Borgota Hotel, Casino and Spa between the last eight months and those coming in the next four and you have Bobby Flay’s Flay Steak, Wolfgang Puck’s American Grille, Michael Mina’s SeaBlue and Michael Schulson’s Japanese-pub reimagined, Izakaya, and there’s plenty of four- and five-star eating in and around the City of Brotherly Love.
One last word about Philly and it comes from no other than Food & Wine Editor in Chief, Dana Cowin who once slighted Philadelphia as not being a great food city. When she both re-examined her criteria and actually visited the city, she changed her mind — talking total 180! Two quotes worth noting from that article: “a series of scouting trips to Philadelphia showed her the true meaning of [food] greatness” and
I went to a BYOB called Marigold Kitchen and was amazed at the connection between chef Michael Solomonov (also ex-Vetri) and his customers. He got kisses of gratitude from old women, old men, young men…everyone, in fact. And then it dawned on me: The fantastic restaurants I’d visited had the pizzazz of a Starr production and the intimacy of a BYOB, with significantly more attention to the sophistication of the food and the professionalism of the staff.
These enormously satisfying, small new restaurants made me reconsider everything I’d thought about what makes a great food city. When I looked back at my seven criteria, I realized that Philly performed poorly in many categories, but it’s still an outstanding place to eat. The neighborhood restaurants, better than many of the top restaurants in smaller cities, allow you to have a good meal any day of the week—and to befriend the chef. Would the food scene be better if there were more fabulous destination restaurants? Perhaps. But birthdays and anniversaries come around only a few times a year. I love a city that inspires palates every day and brings a sense of fun to the adventure of eating out. Now, I’m planning to go back to Philadelphia for ravioli stuffed with mashed potatoes, pecorino and leeks at Melograno and a wood-fired pizza at Osteria. And it occurred to me: There are now more places I want to try in Philadelphia than in New York.
