April 29--I think it was a New York Times article that first dubbed the James Beard Foundation Awards "the culinary Oscars." That moniker has stuck (unofficially of course, as "the Oscars" is trademarked and copyrighted by you know whom), and it's as apt a description as I can imagine.
If you're a chef, pastry chef, restaurateur or baker, there is no higher honor than a James Beard award. Certainly there are other culinary honors out there, and chefs are understandably grateful and humbled to receive any of them. But there's only one No. 1, and the JBF is it.
A moment of disclosure: I've served on the JBF Restaurant and Chef Awards subcommittee, which I now chair, since 2007. So I'm not exactly a neutral party. But I've seen the awards up close, seen the joy on the winners' faces. This is as good as it gets. And "James Beard nominated chef," let alone "James Beard winning chef," not only looks good on the resume, but also sends a slew of customers to your door.
It also doesn't hurt that the awards ceremony itself is a grand, black-tie gala, from the red carpet (yes, really) on which the nominated chefs arrive to the star-studded chef tastings that follow the ceremony. It's hard not to be swept up in the glamour.
OK, the awards are a big honor. What else?
Over the years, the awards have proven to be an astonishingly accurate predictor of future success. In the first 10 years, outstanding chef award winners included Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, Daniel Boulud, Rick Bayless, Thomas Keller, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Charlie Trotter and David Bouley. You've probably heard of a couple of those people. Early winners of the rising star award (for young chefs showing great promise) include Todd English, Bobby Flay, Sarah Stegner, Traci Des Jardins, Michael Mina, Marcus Samuelsson and Andrew Carmellini. Which helps explain why Jimmy Bannos Jr., who won this award last year, was so thrilled.
In its year-round work, the JBF provides a stage for chefs to show their stuff at dinners at New York City's James Beard House. From cities large and small, chefs have made the pilgrimage to cook in New York; some of them likely will be accepting awards Monday evening.
In recognizing high professional standards and culinary excellence in virtually every corner of the country, the JBF has placed top chefs in the spotlight, giving them the attention and credibility that has enabled them to spread the messages of clean food, healthy food, ethically and sustainably raised food. In a very real sense, the nation eats better because of the Beard awards.
The first Beard awards ceremony took place 25 years ago on a yacht in New York City's harbor. This year, the foundation figuratively weighed anchor again, moving the gala to Chicago's Civic Opera House -- the first time the ceremony has taken place outside of New York. (Get used to it, East Coasters; the awards return here in 2016 and 2017.) This, too, is a big deal, as it focuses the nation's attention on Chicago's remarkable dining scene and the chefs who make it so.
The fact that it reduces my commute is just a bonus.
pvettel@tribpub.com
