James Beard Award Nominees: Supporting Up and Coming Chefs & Restaurants
Mashama Bailey is the first Black woman to win the James Beard Foundation Award for "Outstanding Chef." Get this image on: gettyimages.com
Discovering new restaurants and up and coming chefs are a foodie’s paradise. Having a meal at an unassuming restaurant that over delivers delicious food making you believe the chef must love you is winning! In the restaurant world, the James Beard Awards are the equivalent of the Oscars in the film industry, and to be nominated is an esteemed honor.
James A. Beard is basically the father of American cuisine and cookbooks. James was born in Oregon to parents that were hardworkers and passionate about food. He grew up spending summers on beaches fishing and gathering other indigenous ingredients to create meals. This was probably where the seed for the love of food was planted and nurtured. As a young man, James pursued a dream of theatre performance and after the need to supplement his income by cooking and starting a budding catering business, crystalizing the idea for this young man that his life’s purpose was food.
Out of supplementation, James’ small restaurant, Hors d’Oeuvre, Inc., was established in 1937 and he went on to write what is considered the nation’s first cookbook exclusive to cocktail food in 1940, Hors d’Oeuvre & Canapés.
Fast forward 15 years and he had two cooking schools, the James Beard Cooking School in New York City and in his home state of Oregon where men and women were welcome to learn and develop their love of food and cooking from a culinary master. The impact and imprint James Beard has on the American (and global) food scene is the stable foundation for many cooks from many walks of life.
Now through the James Beard Awards, chefs and restaurants are acknowledge for the core values of excellence and leadership which are defined as:
Excellence: the intersection of exceptional talent and achievement in one’s craft and a demonstrated commitment to promoting the Foundation’s values of equity, transparency, respect, integrity, community and passion.
Leadership: through their work, someone who is paving the way and providing space for others to create a sustainable and equitable independent restaurant industry, while also giving voice to such efforts through writing or other forms of media.
When the nominees are announced, it is an opportunity for patrons and peers to cheer for the people and places that are your new favorites as well as make a list of all the new restaurants you want to taste and see in your local community and across the nation. It is a distinguished honor to be nominated and great notability to win.
Click the link to peruse the list of this year’s nominated chefs and restaurants to see where you may want to make dinner reservations next, be it local to your city or your next domestic travel destination. https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2023-james-beard-awards-semifinalists
Brittany is a self-professed foodie and gladly tells everyone that “Good food is her unofficial love language!” She lives in an Atlanta suburb with her husband and 2 daughters.