2008 James Beard Semi Finalists

The long list. A few good nods, a lot of meh overall.

http://media.nymag.com/docs/08/02/jbeardlist.pdf

jpschust wrote:The long list. A few good nods, a lot of meh overall.

http://media.nymag.com/docs/08/02/jbeardlist.pdf

What do you mean by "meh"? Disagreement? That you don't know many of the out-of-town entries?

Darren72 wrote:

jpschust wrote:The long list. A few good nods, a lot of meh overall.

http://media.nymag.com/docs/08/02/jbeardlist.pdf

What do you mean by "meh"? Disagreement? That you don't know many of the out-of-town entries?

There were a few things on there that were truly great, but a lot of things that I just don't believe are deserving of a nomination, let alone an award.

Such as?

I'll jump in if thats ok

the one that really sticks out like a sore thumb is the Ells guy from Chipotle. Any list that has Chipotle in the running for any award loses alot of credibility with me.

just my humble opinion.

It's fine to say someone isn't deserving of a nomination. But that implies that you have someone else in mind who should have been nominated but wasn't.

Here's my list of meh:

Ashok Bajaj
M. Steven Ellis
Richard Melman
Carl Schrosed (Market, Del Mar)
Cal Stamenov (Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley)
Saipin Chutima (Lotus of Siam, Las Vegas)
Carole Greenwood (Buck's, DC)
Koji Terano (Shush-Ko, DC)
Eric Ziebold (CityZen, DC)
Jose Andres (Minibar and others, DC)
Jean Johno (Everest, Chicago)
Boulevard (San Francisco)- note that this was formerly a superstar, not sure what's happened over the years
Bind 36 (Chicago, IL)
Central Michel Richard (DC)- eaten here probably a dozen times- I love it, but it's not an amazing addition to the culinary scene. It is a great go to though.

At a glance that's my list of meh.

I'd add Arun's to the list of underwhelming nominees.

You don't have to know everybody on the list for some key nominations to color your impression of the people doing the nominating. I am, admittedly, unclear on how the nominees are chosen. But that particular one immediately causes me to question the judgement of those doing the nominating.

I mean, really? You have a list of "restaurant[s] in the U.S. that [serve] as a national standard bearer of consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere and service [in operation for] 10 or more consecutive years," and Arun's makes the top 20? I realize ten years is a long time for a restaurant to stay in operation and that narrows the field considerably (perhaps more than I realize), but I doubt Arun's would make my top 20 in Chicago, much less nationally.

The policies of the award selection process are detailed here:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/policies.shtml

It is important to recognize that you shouldn't judge the quality of the process by the nominees, but by the winners. You don't know what criteria go into selecting the 20 nominees. Don't assume that it is the 20 best among the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nominees. For example, the nominees may be chosen so as to include geographic diversity, diversity in cuisine, etc. It may be that a few people on the nominating committee really like a particular place, but the majority don't. The majority, however, include that place on the list of nominees out of respect for the minority.

Here's a different way to think about it: would like someone judging the quality of the GNRs by (a) the quality of the winners, (b) the quality of all nominees, or (c) by the process used to arrive at the nominees and winners?

I suspect that most people's answers would be either (a) or (c). Judging the quality of the GNRs by the quality of the worst restaurant nominated does not seem right.

Darren72 wrote:The policies of the award selection process are detailed here:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/policies.shtml

It is important to recognize that you shouldn't judge the quality of the process by the nominees, but by the winners. You don't know what criteria go into selecting the 20 nominees. Don't assume that it is the 20 best among the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nominees. For example, the nominees may be chosen so as to include geographic diversity, diversity in cuisine, etc. It may be that a few people on the nominating committee really like a particular place, but the majority don't. The majority, however, include that place on the list of nominees out of respect for the minority.

Here's a different way to think about it: would like someone judging the quality of the GNRs by (a) the quality of the winners, (b) the quality of all nominees, or (c) by the process used to arrive at the nominees and winners?

I suspect that most people's answers would be either (a) or (c). Judging the quality of the GNRs by the quality of the worst restaurant nominated does not seem right.

All very true, and point well-taken.

jimswside wrote:I'll jump in if thats ok

the one that really sticks out like a sore thumb is the Ells guy from Chipotle. Any list that has Chipotle in the running for any award loses alot of credibility with me.

just my humble opinion.

They are probably on the list for their efforts in using organic raised meats and promoting sustainable growth. If you look on their website, they list the farms their produce and meat come from. You have to seperate the old McD association, it's not there anymore.

LikestoEatout wrote:

jimswside wrote:I'll jump in if thats ok

the one that really sticks out like a sore thumb is the Ells guy from Chipotle. Any list that has Chipotle in the running for any award loses alot of credibility with me.

just my humble opinion.

They are probably on the list for their efforts in using organic raised meats and promoting sustainable growth. If you look on their website, they list the farms their produce and meat come from. You have to seperate the old McD association, it's not there anymore.

Hey we're organic and our food still stinks!

Interesting, I never thought of that being the reason Chipotle might be on the list of nominees. I am not one who is into the whole organic food movement.

With the above said it should be about the food, and I had the worst "lunch" I have ever eaten @ a Chipotle, perhaps others have enjoyed their meals @ Chipotle.

different strokes I guess

jimswside wrote:Interesting, I never thought of that being the reason Chipotle might be on the list of nominees. I am not one who is into the whole organic food movement.

With the above said it should be about the food, and I had the worst "lunch" I have ever eaten @ a Chipotle, perhaps others have enjoyed their meals @ Chipotle.

different strokes I guess

Not to get off topic but I really enjoy a Barbacoa burrito at Chipotle. (sure I am biased because I worked at Chipotle on Michigan Ave. as a young college student...but it's fresh food made daily from fresh ingredients...REALLY! and it's very clean) if anyone has questions about preparations, food handling, products, etc. please ask.

And about the 'underwhelming' restaurants....Arun's? I thoroughly enjoy Arun's. My roomate has known Arun personally his entire life and worked under him for some time, he's a great chef. And also...Everest? I'm not sure what made you decided that Everest is not worth a James Beard award but personally I'd put it up there. I haven't had too many better dinning experiences than at Everest. I mean jeez....the kitchen doesn't even have gas lines. Try working with that in a room that holds about 8 people but packs in 12.

Hi,

I was trying to find the Beard media nominations list. I have a feeling it is not yet revealed, because I keep turning up 2007 or earlier lists. Did anyone see something I didn't?

Regards,

Jayz wrote:And about the 'underwhelming' restaurants....Arun's? I thoroughly enjoy Arun's. My roomate has known Arun personally his entire life and worked under him for some time, he's a great chef. And also...Everest? I'm not sure what made you decided that Everest is not worth a James Beard award but personally I'd put it up there. I haven't had too many better dinning experiences than at Everest. I mean jeez....the kitchen doesn't even have gas lines. Try working with that in a room that holds about 8 people but packs in 12.

Besides having an absolutely terrible personal experience there, there wasn't a single dish I tasted that made me say "wow this is fantastic". Versus a number of the previous award winners in Chicago and elsewhere where I can think of a variety of dishes that made me think, "Now this is what cooking should and needs to be at the high end."

jpschust wrote:

Jayz wrote:And about the 'underwhelming' restaurants....Arun's? I thoroughly enjoy Arun's. My roomate has known Arun personally his entire life and worked under him for some time, he's a great chef. And also...Everest? I'm not sure what made you decided that Everest is not worth a James Beard award but personally I'd put it up there. I haven't had too many better dinning experiences than at Everest. I mean jeez....the kitchen doesn't even have gas lines. Try working with that in a room that holds about 8 people but packs in 12.

Besides having an absolutely terrible personal experience there, there wasn't a single dish I tasted that made me say "wow this is fantastic". Versus a number of the previous award winners in Chicago and elsewhere where I can think of a variety of dishes that made me think, "Now this is what cooking should and needs to be at the high end."

Indeed... not to get too far off-topic, but I had my first meal at Arun's and my first meals at TAC and Spoon within a six month span. I can probably tell you the exact menus of my first TAC and Spoon meals, and remember every flavor. But I don't think I can name a single dish I had at Arun's. The dinner was good, but completely unmemorable (and four times the price).

Looking at the ones I've actually dined at...

Impressive nominations:
Rich Melman, LEY
Tami Lax, Harvest, Madison, WI
Martial Noguier (spelling corrected), one sixtyblue, Chicago, IL
Graham Elliot Bowles, Avenues, Chicago, IL
Steve Oakley, Oakley's, Indianapolis, IN
Bruce Sherman, North Pond, Chicago, IL
Michael Symon, Lola, Cleveland, OH
Paul Virant, Vie, Western Springs, IL
Michael Maddux, Le Titi de Paris, Arlington Heights, IL
Terrance Brennan, Picholine, New York, NY
Cory Barrett, Lola, Cleveland, OH
Sanford D'Amato, Sanford, Milwaukee, WI
Jean Joho, Everest, Chicago, IL
Jean Georges, New York, NY
Spiaggia, Chicago , IL
Gary Danko, San Francisco, CA
Oak Room, Seelbach Hotel, Louisville, KY (nominated for service; the food was not as deserving)
Sanford, Milwaukee, WI
Spiaggia, Chicago, IL
Picasso, Las Vegas, NV

Disappointing and uninspired nominations:
Michael Bulkowski, Revolver, Findlay, OH
Suzy Crofton, Crofton on Wells, Chicago, IL
David Tallent, Restaurant Tallent, Bloomington, IN
Arnaud Berthelier, The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead,
Atlanta, GA
Arun's, Chicago, IL
Bern's Steak House, Tampa, FL
The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Atlanta, GA

So, overall, I would have to say that there are a lot more hits than misses.

I'm particularly impressed with the nominations of Noguier/one sixtyblue, Oakley/Oakley's, Symon/Lola, D'Amato/Sanford, and Joho/Everest. I've had some of the very finest meals in my life at these restaurants. Furthermore, they are not necessarily the almost "automatic" choices that certain highly-acclaimed places are (e.g. Avenues).

The worst nominations are those of Bulkowski/Revolver, Tallent/Tallent, and Arun/Arun's - not that those places are bad, exactly, but they are just uninspiring, and hardly worthy of such a high honor, IMHO.

I'm not sure that I would make too big of a deal over this list.

I'm not sure exactly how the Beard process works, but I thought that the initial call for nominees casts a pretty broad net (lots and lots of people can nominate pretty much whoever they want). Eventually, the list of nominees gets culled down to the finalists that are normally released to the public. I'm pretty sure that this list represents an intermediate step that we, as the public, just haven't gotten to see in past years (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this...I'm really just speculating).

I would suspect that the nominees on this list that many people here have found "underwhelming" have made it to this stage before, but haven't gotten to the finalist stage.

jesteinf wrote:I'm not sure that I would make too big of a deal over this list.

I'm not sure exactly how the Beard process works, but I thought that the initial call for nominees casts a pretty broad net (lots and lots of people can nominate pretty much whoever they want). Eventually, the list of nominees gets culled down to the finalists that are normally released to the public. I'm pretty sure that this list represents an intermediate step that we, as the public, just haven't gotten to see in past years (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this...I'm really just speculating).

I would suspect that the nominees on this list that many people here have found "underwhelming" have made it to this stage before, but haven't gotten to the finalist stage.

What he said.

=R=