Like the Michelin stars, winning a James Beard Foundation Award ranks high for those in the culinary world. On Friday, April 24, the Foundation honored the nation’s top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food journalists at an exclusive celebration and dinner hosted by Chef Carla Hall, best known for her comfort food cooking and Top Chef competitor.
While many people know the name James Beard and realize winning an award that bears his name is important in the culinary industry, few outside the industry know about the man behind the name of one the most prestigious recognition programs.
Beard was a cookbook author and teacher who some say might have been the first “foodie”. He hosted the first food program on television in 1946 and nurtured a generation of American chefs, cookbook authors and food enthusiasts along the way. The New York Times called him the “dean of American cookery” in 1954.
Securing a coveted James Beard Foundation Award is a high honor for those in the culinary industry.... [+]
The following year, in 1955, he established the James Beard Cooking School where he continued to teach cooking to thousands of men and women for the next 30 years. Before his death in 1985, he penned 20 cookbooks and penned articles for magazines like Woman’s Day, Gourmet and House & Garden. Some of this books are still in print today.
He died in 1985 but his memory on through the James Beard Foundation which began after Julia Child urged friends and colleagues to do something with the Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village. A year later, on November 5, 1986, the James Beard Foundation would open the James Beard House and carry on Beard’s legacy of providing “a center for the culinary arts and to continue to foster the interest James Beard inspired in all aspects of food, its preparation presentation, and of course, enjoyment,” according to a press release issued that day.
The legacy continued today as the James Beard House welcomes a “who’s who” of rotating chefs to the House who prepare fine dining meals almost every evening.
The James Beard Foundation Awards would come soon after. The first awards, meant to highlight excellence in the people behind the food and beverage industry, were given in 1991.
Highlights of this year’s winners, announced on Friday, April 24, include:
- Cookbook of the Year: Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition, David Sterling, (University of Texas Press)
- Cookbook Hall of Fame: Barbara Kafka
- American Cooking: Heritage, Sean Brock, (Artisan)
- Outstanding Personality/Host: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, Network: Food Network
- Radio Show/Audio Webcast: Hidden Kitchens World, the Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva), Network: NPR
- Television Program, In Studio or Fixed Location: Martha Stewart's Cooking School, Host: Martha Stewart, Producers: Greta Anthony, Kimberly Miller Olko, Martha Stewart, Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk, and Lisa Wagner, Network: PBS
- Publication of the Year: Gravy
- M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: “Life in Chains: Finding Home at Taco Bell,” John DeVore, Eater
- Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award: “Artisanal-Everything Roberta's Defies the Stereotypes,” “Once an Icon, Per Se is Showing its Age,” “Six Reasons Why Cosme is One of NYC's Most Relevant New Restaurants,” Ryan Sutton, Eater
To see the entire list of winners, click here.
On Monday, May 4, the James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony and Gala comes to my hometown of Chicago where the Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design, and special achievement awards, including Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Who’s Who, and the America’s Classics, will be announced. The city’s culinary community is already buzzing with excitement and several after parties are being planned throughout the city. Stay tuned for more winner announcements next week.
