James Beard Awards Announced

The Washington Post / May 6, 2009

Washington chefs were shut out at the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards in New York on Monday night, falling in three national categories and in the mid-Atlantic competition to chefs from other cities. 

José Andrés of Minibar lost to Dan Barber of New York's Blue Hill for the national Outstanding Chef award and to David Chang's Momofuku Ko, also in New York, for Best New Restaurant honors. Andrés, who won Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2003, has been nominated many times before, including a Rising Star Chef nomination in 1999 for Café Atlantico and Jaleo; a Best New Restaurant nomination in 2003 for Zaytinya; and an Outstanding Chef nomination in 2008. 

Johnny Monis of Komi, nominated for the second year in a row for Rising Star Chef, lost to Nate Appleman of A16 in San Francisco. This has been Appleman's year; his first cookbook, "A16: Food + Wine," won Best First Book and Book of the Year honors at the International Association of Culinary Professionals' conference last month. 

In the Best Chef-Mid-Atlantic category, Jose Garces of tapas restaurant Amada in Philadelphia won over Washington chefs Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve, Vikram Sunderam of Rasika and Peter Pastan of Obelisk. It was the first nomination for Sunderam, the third consecutive one for Armstrong and the sixth for Pastan.

Other major awards included:

-- Outstanding Restaurant: Jean Georges in New York, owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Phil Suarez. 

-- Cookbook of the Year: "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes," by Jennifer McLagan (Ten Speed Press).

Other cookbook category winners: 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 (Wiley); Professional, "Alinea," by Grant Achatz (Achatz LLC/Ten Speed Press); General Cooking, "How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Tenth Edition" by Mark Bittman (Wiley); Healthy Focus, "The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life," by Ellie Krieger (Taunton); and International, "Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China," by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan). 

Monday's ceremony at Lincoln Center was hosted by chefs Cat Cora and Emeril Lagasse and actor Stanley Tucci, and presented awards in 38 categories. Media awards in 19 categories were presented Sunday night at the Hudson Theatre.

For a complete list of award recipients, go to http://www.jamesbeard.org

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com