James Beard Award Nominations 2003

[Jinmyo]

The James Beard Journalism award nominations for 2003

Steve Shaw (aka Fat Guy) published a piece on the Redneck Riviera and Sandor Zombori here on eGullet. This was nominated in the Internet category, making this eGullet's first Beard Award nomination (Steve won in the category last year).

The two competing pieces in that category are:

Natalie Maclean's "Lady Sings the Booze" and Michael Steinberger's "Cold Shower."

[Steve Klc]

Let's not forget eGulleteers Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer and Grant Achatz of Trio also got Beard nominations. Congratulations Steve, Grant and Kathleen. (Zaytinya picked up a Best New Restaurant nod as well.)

[CathyL]

A link to the list of all nominees: click.

[vengroff]

Let's not forget eGulleteers Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer and Grant Achatz of Trio also got Beard nominations.  Congratulations Steve, Grant and Kathleen. (Zaytinya picked up a Best New Restaurant nod as well.)

Congratulations, all!

[BruceCole]

I've put links to most of the nominated articles on my website SauteWednesday.

Still digging around the web for some of them, but unfortunately, alot of publications require a paid subscription to view articles in the archives.

Any writers out there that are nominated, whose articles are not available on-line, can email the text of the article to me, and I will build a page for it on my site - complete with all the necessary copyright salutationis, etc. of course...

[jhlurie]

We win all around, eh?

In my opinion, the piece Shaw is nominated for this year is even stronger than the one he won for last year. Hopefully that speaks well for his chances, unless there is a strong bias with these awards against repeat wins.

[awbrig]

I guess awbrig's Week in Food didnt make it to the nominations this year...

Congrats Steve, Grant and Kathleen!

Edited March 14, 2003 by awbrig (log)

[Fat Guy]

In my opinion, the piece Shaw is nominated for this year is even stronger than the one he won for last year.

It certainly took less of a toll on my feet.

Hopefully that speaks well for his chances, unless there is a strong bias with these awards against repeat wins.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern in that regard. There are some journalists who are nearly perennial winners, like Richman and Steingarten. If I don't win, it will probably be because I'm up against two strong competitors. The one big advantage I have is my subject matter: Sandor Zombori. I don't deserve any credit for that, but would gladly accept an award anyway! It's also a bit of an apples-and-oranges situation, because the other two pieces are standalone, fully edited and produced articles, whereas mine is a single entry from a longer Weblog project that was written, photographed, and delivered in real time as we traveled cross-country in the Plymouth Grand Voyager. The award categories, however, don't allow for a full Internet series submission. So, in effect, I have a series piece competing as a standalone, which is tough in terms of establishing context and continuity. Even in the newspaper and magazine areas, where there are series categories, the maximum number of series articles that can be considered is three. There's also, unfortunately, no "best Web site" award -- one I think eGullet would easily win.

[Varmint]

Let's not forget eGulleteers Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer and Grant Achatz of Trio also got Beard nominations.  Congratulations Steve, Grant and Kathleen. (Zaytinya picked up a Best New Restaurant nod as well.)

Way to go, Kathi! Gotta give some love to the locals!!!

[bourdain]

Congratulations Fat Guy! Well deserved!

[Deacon]

So, in effect, I have a series piece competing as a standalone . . .

I thought the article read fine as a one-off, actually. (I remember reading the original entry here at eGullet.) In the article there were no out-of-place references to the cross-country trip; it seemed as if you flew to the Florida panhandle just for an interview with Sandor. It certainly focused attention on a part of the country few gourmets venture into. Good luck, Shaw.

[CathyL]

What Deacon said. It's an excellent piece, FG, within or without the context of your whole trip.

The selection committee clearly erred, however, in neglecting to recognize Momo.

[Suzanne F]

The selection committee clearly erred, however, in neglecting to recognize Momo.

But would he then have to go up against Diane Forley and Michael Otsuka's pets? And who knows who else? That would be tough, no?

[CathyL]

Momo is in a class by himself...which means there's no category for him at present, but the Beardies seem to enjoy inventing new ones.

[kpurvis]

Thanks, all, for the kind words. Sorry for the delay in replying -- I've been on the road in New York, Boston and Providence, working on book research. (More importantly to food people: Ate at Babbo, DEB and the Parker Meridien burger joint. Also was at Johnson & Wales national high school recipe contest. The Johnson and Wales culinary museum is very, very cool.)

[bigbear]

Congrats, all.

[macrosan]

I cannot help laughing at the "SUB ZERO FREEZER CO. OUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE AWARD". My mind just refuses to stop boggling

[Fat Guy]

Congrats to Natalie Maclean, whose "Lady Sings the Booze" won the Beard Journalism Award in the Internet category tonight. She was amazingly gracious in her acceptance speech and seemed like a genuine and warm person. If there was an upside to me not winning, it was that Ed Levine was giving out the awards and I've been bashing him lately on eGullet so I was worried it might come to fisticuffs.

All in all, a fun evening at the Journalism Awards. The food -- in contrast, I was told by many veterans, to previous years -- was pretty good. Some of the speeches were hilarious (David Rosengarten) and others were endearing (Lettie Teague). There were quite a few surprises, especially Tanya Steel getting chosen over Alan Richman. I forgot to take my program home with me, but everything will be on the Beard House site soon.

[Jason Perlow]

Ah, well. Hell Steven, you were nominated and you put eGullet on the Beard commitee's radar this year. That sure counts for a hell of a lot in my book.

[Fat Guy]

Well, it doesn't look like the Beard people are going to put up the results until Monday and I haven't seen them posted in any of the places I thought they might be, so let me try to reconstruct what I remember. I could be wrong. They were pouring Argyle bubbly like it was water so I wasn't 100%. Sorry if any of this is incorrect, but we can fix it on Monday:

INTERNET WRITING ON FOOD, NUTRITION, TRAVEL, RESTAURANT, AND BEVERAGE

Journalist: Natalie MacLean

www.nataliemaclean.com

Article(s): “Lady Sings the Booze”

MAGAZINE SERIES

Journalists: Dan Hofstadter, Michael Pollan, and Phyllis Richman

Gourmet

Series: “Down on the Farm”

MAGAZINE WRITING ON SPIRITS, WINE, OR BEER

The Wine News

Article(s): “House Style: Fashioning Champagnes That Resonate With the Makers’ Mark”

MFK FISHER DISTINGUISHED WRITING AWARD

Journalist: Lettie Teague

Food & Wine

Article(s): “Secret Life of a Sommelier”

MAGAZINE RESTAURANT REVIEW OR CRITIQUE

Journalist: Tanya Wenman Steel

Bon Appétit

Article(s): “New York Rising”

NEWSLETTER WRITING ON FOOD, BEVERAGE, RESTAURANT, AND NUTRITION

Journalist: David Rosengarten

The Rosengarten Report

NEWSPAPER FOOD SECTION WITH CIRCULATION 300,000 AND ABOVE

Editor: Lee S. Dean

Star Tribune, Minneapolis

NEWSPAPER FOOD SECTION WITH CIRCULATION UNDER 300,000

Editor: Judith Evans

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

NEWSPAPER WRITING ON SPIRITS, WINE, OR BEER

Can't remember. I know it wasn't Matt and Ted Lee. It was either:

Journalist: Charles Martin

Cincinnati Enquirer

Article(s): “Bourbon’s Secret Is in the Barrel”

or

Journalist: Rod Smith

Los Angeles Times

Article(s): “Winegrowing Season: Waiting for the Valley to Inhale”

NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE, OR INTERNET REPORTING ON CONSUMER ISSUES, NUTRITION, AND/OR HEALTH

No idea. Maybe Bruce Porter won this one. I seem to remember him speaking. The nominees were:

Journalist: Barry Estabrook

Gourmet

Article(s): “The Wild and the Farmed”

Journalist: Bruce Porter

Gourmet

Article(s): “The Nature of the Beast”

Journalist: Mark Stuertz

Dallas Observer

Article(s): “Green Giant”

NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING ABOUT RESTAURANTS AND/OR CHEFS WITH OR WITHOUT RECIPES

Journalist: Sheila Himmel

San Jose Mercury News

Article(s): “Serve You Right: Caring for Diners Is a Learnable Art”

NEWSPAPER SERIES

San Francisco Chronicle

Series: “Turkey Training Camp”

Article(s): “The Most American of Meals Draws Rookies: The Bay Area’s Worst Cooks Vie for a Chance to Learn with a Pro”, “The Challenge Begins: Our Winner Learns to Plan, Shop, and Prep”, “Countdown to Thanksgiving: Our Training Camp Recruit Tackles the Turkey”

MAGAZINE FEATURE WRITING ABOUT RESTAURANTS AND/OR CHEFS WITH OR WITHOUT RECIPES

Pretty sure on this one. I know it wasn't Mitchell Davis (this and the Richman non-award were the two biggest surprises in my eyes):

Journalist: Bruce Feiler

Gourmet

Article(s): “The Therapist at the Table”

MAGAZINE FEATURE WRITING WITH RECIPES

Journalist: Kelly Alexander

Saveur

Article(s): “Hometown Appetites”

MAGAZINE FEATURE WRITING WITHOUT RECIPES

Journalist: Bill Buford

The New Yorker

Article(s): “The Secret of Excess”

NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING WITH RECIPES

Not a clue.

NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING WITHOUT RECIPES

Can't remember.

NEWSPAPER RESTAURANT REVIEW OR CRITIQUE

Westword, Denver

Article(s): “Man with a Plan”, “Deli Dally”, “Life on the Line”

Journalist: Robb Walsh

Houston Press

[Jinmyo]

Thanks for posting this, Steve.

Congratulations to all.

[vengroff]

Congratulations to all!

I didn't realize they had a seperate ceremony for the journalists. It reminds me of the oscars. A friend of mine won two for his computer graphics work, but they were awarded at a special star-free geek ceremony the night before the main event.

[Fat Guy]

There are two reasons they do the journalism awards separately. One is that many of the journalists, especially the restaurant reviewers, aren't comfortable in a room full of the chefs and restaurateurs they cover. The other is that, unlike the other awards, the journalism awards are free of outside funding. They're funded entirely by the Beard Foundation, and not by industry sponsors like the other awards (the other awards are all The Mega Food International Award for Whatever). The Academy has a different rationale for segregation: They have too many awards to get through in one evening so they prioritize in favor of the ones people want to see on TV.

[Suzanne F]

. . .  The other is that, unlike the other awards, the journalism awards are free of outside funding. They're funded entirely by the Beard Foundation, and not by industry sponsors like the other awards . . .

AHA! That explains why the food at the journalism awards is not that good!

[Fat Guy]

Oh, the stuff served at the awards ceremony is all donated -- I don't think the Beard Foundation ever pays for food. It's the award-selection process that is independent. There's a summary of the menu and the participating chefs here:

http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/2003/j_menu.shtml