No local restaurants make James Beard Awards nominees

[Robin Garr]

Tough news on the local front, the James Beard 2010 nominees are out today, and no local restaurant or chef made any category. The only Kentuckian honored (and justly so), was Julian P. Van Winkle III
with Old Rip Van Winkle, Louisville, one of five winners in the Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Award presented by Southern Wine & Spirits

Here are the five winners in the Best Chef, Southeast category, where any Kentucky winners would have placed. Have any of you dined at any of these spots? How would you say they compare to Louisville's best?

Hugh Acheson
Five and Ten
Athens, GA

Sean Brock
McCrady’s
Charleston, SC

Linton Hopkins
Restaurant Eugene
Atlanta

Andrea Reusing
Lantern
Chapel Hill, NC

Bill Smith
Crook’s Corner
Chapel Hill, NC

[Robin Garr]

Read the full report from the James Beard Foundation here:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/files/2010_Ja ... minees.pdf

The only one I've dined at is Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta. It was a truly extraordinary meal. The setting is elegant (well, if you ignore that you're on the ground floor of a cheesy new apartment building on Peachtree Street...but I guess that's no worse than the Costco parking lot).

It's one of those places that includes an extended list of the farms from which the ingredients were sourced. The menu doesn't have the traditional courses. Instead, it has fish, vegetable, and meat/poultry sections, listed from smaller to larger plates. With the help of our waiter, we were able to create a four course meal from these plates. The food is elegant, restrained, but with really powerful flavors. The thin slices of fluke with an aged balsamic gelee (the combine better than you'd think), was the stand-out dish. The chef really is gifted.

I had the luxury to dine at McCrady three weeks ago when I was a guest chef at the Charleston Food and Wine Festival. Sean delivered a fantastic seven course tasting and met up with him again at the after event party for chefs, a very down to earth guy. Equally great dinners and nice chefs were from Fish(Chef Nico Romo), FIG(Chef Mike Lata) and SNOB(Chef Frank Lee).

Last weekend I worked alongside Chef John Currence, JBF 'Best Chef South 2009' and Chef Paula DaSilva, a finalist of 'Hell's Kitchen series 5' in Boca Raton, FL and their food were fantastic too.

I've eaten at Crook's Corner, but it was 1985, so I don't think it counts.

As I said before, I am very flattered and humbled to be a James Beard awards best chef- southeast semifinalist. To have my name next to some of those names! I never once thought that I would be a finalist. I told people if they allowed us to vote, I wouldn't even vote for myself. I think what Shawn Brock is doing is amazing. So to say the least, I am not surprised to see these finalist. I think Sean Brock will win. Who knows though, maybe down the road someone from KY will bring it home.

Buen provecho!

o.k.. i think i get it. write a synopsis, andrew, not a diatribe. you can't type fast enough to have it posted before it times out!!!
i.m.h.o. it is not a tragedy for our city to not have regional award winners.. most, if not all, of the 'invitee's' to do the james beard house dinners are restaurants that pay the majority of the expenses ( minimum of $10,000) for the honor of being there.
the cynic in me thinks that most of the restaurants who are nominated are on the list because of the dollars spent to be there.
love charleston and it's reataurants, have been to mccrady's several times. the thing that most sticks out in my mind ( and i think i posted about it 5 years ago ) is that a busser was moving from c-town to southern cal, but was going 550 miles out of his way to come through the 'ville to hit the extreme park... don't believe i have ever heard of anyone ( driving ) to go that far out of the way to eat somewhere.
andrew
p.s. thanks, robin, for the kind words in the voice... are staff from the c-j / velocity following you around???

I've never given the James Beard Foundation a cent. Well! actually the first dinner I did in 2001, their stereo system was not working and I had to send one of my guys down the street, to purchase a new CD player from Radio Shack. My mom, uncle and aunt came, so I had a special CD made for the dinner, with alot of my mothers favorite Latin artists. I've been fortunate to win the Woodford Reserve chef challenge, that allowed me to go with all food, spirits, hotel and flights paid for. I've also been very fortunate with the past three dinners, because I've had most of the food and all wine donated. I spent less then 3000.00. Honestly! This year once again, my staff that wanted to go, bought their own airline tickets. The past few years I would get one room and we would all stay in it. That might be a Latin thing! This year I rented an apartment with bunk beds that slept 8, it cost me less then 800.00 for 4 nights. Really though! I have never given any donations to the Beard House except my time and energy. Maybe I've been lucky! This year I ate a little to good, but it was worth it.
I forgot to add that the Beard House also gives us a check for a portion of what they charged the guest.

not trying to dog you chefe'.. damn, i think i spent $3,000.00 taking you and the 'boron brothers' to chicago for your bachelor party!!! i'm laughing just thinking about it... what was that, 10 plus years ago??? thank god i had the foresight to get my own room and not participate in the 'latin thing'. you wearing green and yellow to a bears game and the ride back uptown on the bus was priceless!!!
getting cut off at goose island while we were still on 'our best behavior' , then having to take all of the money from the three of you, and provide your 'allowance' before we proceeded on... i seriously have tears in my eyes!
the points being... i m h o, a) the beard house thing is blown up. louisville is not a culinary wasteland because we don't have a regional award winner? don't think so, we have awesome and talented chefs/ restaurants in the 'ville. you, dean, kathy, jim g., anoosh, mark albert (at baxter), john varanese, looi, bruce ucan, miguel de la torre, and way too many others to mention. we do not need awards recognizing what we do everyday.
b) if you did not get the majority of stuff donated, footed the bill for everyone, did not cut corners on costs, sleep eight to a room ( i'm still worried about that whole thing!!), pay for all ingredients... you are easily talking 10k. restaurants absorb that as part of their marketing budgets.
just trying to to put a real life perspective into being dissed. in the long run, i doubt it really matters on our day to day successes.
all of the above is my opinion and not representation of this web site or it's management.
andrew
p.s. as a second disclaimer, all memories of the bachelor trip are sketchy at best and subject to total denial unless chef lamas wants to deny the color of the clothes he wore to the bears game!!!

Laughing my #&! off!!! That was one of my best times. Damn! you really did take our money before we went into that place. I did wear Green Bay Packers colors and I'm not a Packers fan, being from San Diego. It was just a rain coat with a green sweat shirt under. What was I thinking!. Hey Jefe! you know I love you and will always have the up most respect for you. You really were one of the best Jefes I've ever had. I was just explaining my situation and how I was able to do the Beard House dinner. Yes! I admited that I sleep 8 people in one room. The Latin thing right! Have you ever seen us travel in a vehicle.

Much Love Jefe!

it wasn't even a bears/ packers game... all i know is that we were laughing our asses off for two and a half days... not being schmarmy...but that was one of the best road / plane / train trips of my life...
i do have to say that i have spent the better part of 8 years ( of my 49) on the road and in other environs, and that weekend will always be in my top ten!!!!
i seriously do not believe i have ever laughed so hard and had so much fun doing it!
sorry to put you all to sleep... but back to the original point... we do not need awards from other places to validate our restaurant community....
i can't say anything more than the people in the biz stick together and the people in our biz are TOTALLY active in our community...

i am so sorry to talk about a trip that was eons ago... but...you can get it from the start when, on an early morning flight, the flight attendant asks us to write down what we want to drink and anthony's boys ( not his real kids), and, my employees at the time tried to write bourbon... the f.a. came back and said what the hell is boron??? it started there, not 15 minutes out of the 'ville and descended from that point on!!!
would not trade that trip for anything.... well... maybe a free meal at seviche'