beard nominations

[frogprince]

longtime reader, first time poster ponders the beard nominations...

deserved nominations? overlooked contenders? winning predictions?

all fully deserved i feel; ive never had anything apart from stellar experiences at cashion's, equinox and obelisk. though gerard's place, from what ive heard through the grapewine, seems like an odd choice (ive never been there though). anyone know anything about marc vetri in philly?

it was also nice to see walter nicholls' piece about the cast-iron skillet get nominated for journalism.

also wondering... is ann cashion nominated for just cashion's or johnny's too/ is it the chef or chef's particular restaurant that gets the nomination?

[Free Wilma]

Here's the link to all of the award nominees......

http://www.jamesbeard.org/about/press/news....php?news_id=37

[robyn]

I think what's more important is what are these awards supposed to be? I haven't been to a huge % of the restaurants this year - or any other year - but I've been to a fair number over the years. Chinois on Main for Outstanding Restaurant - in 2004? It was clever - and good - when I went there years ago - but I can't believe it's one of the 5 best in the country today. Azul as best in the southeast? I've been to a handful that are better in Miami - and much better elsewhere in the southeast. MK in Chicago? I couldn't give it a prize for anything since it tries to turn its tables over every hour on a busy night. And best new restaurants in the US? I can't believe that 4 out of 5 are in New York. Guess the judges don't get out much.

Sometimes I think the judges who pick the candidates don't travel as much as I do. And I do think they're behind the times by at least a few years - if not more. What do you think? Robyn

[Joe H]

They don't travel as much as there is a very heavy bias towards New York. As for Chinois I believe this is as much for its history as for its current excellence. Remarkably this is a restaurant that still is very popular even though it must be 20 or so years old. They still do some of their dishes better tha anywhere else that I've found. (i.e. Szechuan beef, lobster, tuna carpaccio)

If there is any justice in the world Fabio will win at Maestro; he should have won last year when he was nominated in the same category.

[robyn]

I can appreciate the history of Chinois. It certainly wasn't new when I went there perhaps a decade ago. I liked it a lot. It was certainly head and shoulders above Spago in Beverly Hills (in my opinion) - which I went to a a few years ago.

Perhaps there ought to be a category like "Lifetime Achievement Award" - it would be more to the point. And Wolfgang Puck would certainly deserve one of those in my opinion. Instead - it's kind of like giving an Oscar to someone today for a mediocre film when he/she should have won an Oscar a decade ago for a great film.

Do the judges not travel because there is a bias in favor of New York - or is there a bias in favor of New York because they don't travel? And is the depth of coverage outside New York kind of mediocre because of the judge's lack of familiarity with dining in places outside New York? Robyn

[Tom Sietsema]

As vice-chairman of the Beard Restaurant Awards Committee, a group of a dozen or so critics and food writers representing all regions of the U.S., I can't let the previous statement go unchallenged. We DO travel (and some of us, like Johnny Apple of the Times, travel a LOT). One of the reasons NYC is so heavily represented is because just about everyone who has a vote in the process gets there -- it is a major food center, obviously. What goes on in committee meetings has to stay in those meetings, but to say members don't get out much when in fact we are made up of local and national critics is just plain in error.

[Steve Klc]

That's just outsiders looking in, Tom, on a process that's so inherently difficult to come to grips with anyway. I have much more of a problem with someone saying "he should have won last year when he was nominated in the same category"--when that person has not seen or tasted the food of all those nominated in the category, including the eventual winner, Grant Achatz. It would be like touting "Titanic" at the top of your lungs for best picture and not having seen the other 4 films nominated. At least the committee process mitigates against that kind of parochial self-interest somewhat.

What I'd wonder instead--did Fabio Trabocchi get much consideration for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic--he should have in my book--and was it decided more due to age alone that he should still be considered in the Rising Star category? I realize that probably cannot be disclosed. Oh, to have been a fly on that political wall...

Tom, is the full makeup of your committee disclosed? That might go some way toward dispelling concerns as far as representation, travel and awareness.

Also, as much as possible, let's try to keep this discussion focused on the local aspects of the Beard awards as the initial poster specified--our local chefs and writers nominated and the issues affecting them.

Let's continue discussion of non-local aspects--and talk of Chinois, Chicago area restaurants like MK, chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Miami--elsewhere on a Beard award thread in the Food Media board. Like this one:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38849

[robyn]

That's just outsiders looking in, Tom, on a process that's so inherently difficult to come to grips with anyway. I have much more of a problem with someone saying "he should have won last year when he was nominated in the same category"--when that person has not seen or tasted the food of all those nominated in the category, including the eventual winner, Grant Achatz.  It would be like touting "Titanic" at the top of your lungs for best picture and not having seen the other 4 films nominated.  At least the committee process mitigates against that kind of parochial self-interest somewhat.

Are all of the people who vote required to eat in the nominated restaurants (not just eat something the chef prepares in the Beard House in New York) - read the nominated articles - try to prepare recipes from the nominated cookbooks - etc.?

Are the people who make the nominations all or part of the group of people who get to vote on the winners?

I am curious how the process works. Robyn

[pastramionrye]

and why does it seem like its the same four out of 5 people nominated this year from last and on and on down the years...sans the winning chef? is it a rule that you keep getting nominated until you win?

[pastramionrye]

this might be a little off topic, but i always felt that you should win the award if you deserve it...i know the beard organization only allows you to be nominated and win the same award like once every 5 or 10 years...but if buolod is the best chef in new york every year, or keller is the best chef in california every year, doesnt it do some dis-service to the award to give it to someone else, just for the sake of giving it to someone new and different?

[robyn]

this might be a little off topic, but i always felt that you should win the award if you deserve it...i know the beard organization only allows you to be nominated and win the same award like once every 5 or 10 years...but if buolod is the best chef in new york every year, or keller is the  best chef in california every year, doesnt it do some dis-service to the award to give it to someone else, just for the sake of giving it to someone new and different?

I don't think you're off-topic. After all - if you're talking about a prestigious award - it's important to get some sense of the criteria that determine who gets the award. Now we all know at least some of what goes on with the Oscars - because it's not only in the arts sections of newspapers - it's in the business sections too. But - with the Beard awards - I have to admit I've read very little about them other than the announcements of the nominees and the winners.

By the way - I agree with you and do think that "Best" means "best". Now it's obvious that a restaurant can't be the best new restaurant year after year - but it can be the best national or regional restaurant year after year. And I think diners are entitled to know that the restaurant that was the "Best" 4 years ago is still the best today. Because although I've never paid much attention to the Beard awards when deciding where to eat - I think a fair number of people do. And it is made to be a "big deal". E.g., we were in Miami last week - and Azul's nomination got play in the Miami Herald.

There are analogies. Do we disqualify athletes or sports teams from competitions simply because they won last year? Of course not. It would be silly. Robyn