James Beard Nominees 2005 Announced

Chicago-oriented highlights are:

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD
Chicago dominates this national category with three out of five nominees: Tru, Spiaggia, and Topolobampo.

BEST CHEF: MIDWEST
Chicago represents 4 out of 5 (again) with: Sandro Gamba (NoMi), Michael Kornick (MK), Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia), and Shawn McClain (Spring)

The full release can be seen at:
http://www.jamesbeard.org/about/press/pr/MR4605B.pdf

Best,
Michael / EC

Does Michael Kornick actually cook anywhere still? He's not the chef de cuisine at MK any longer, right?

A couple other nominations I missed:

Everest for an overall outstanding restaurant award.

WBEZ's 848 for local food radio show. I wonder what particular episode of 848 brought in that nomination??

WBEZ's 848 for local food radio show. I wonder what particular episode of 848 brought in that nomination??

Steve Dolinsky has received multiple James Beard awards for his cancelled CLTV program which paralleled the Chicago Tribune's food section offerings.

Steve being nominated for his radio show is hardly a surprise. I am glad he has a gig at Channel 7 WLS-TV on Wednesdays and Fridays at the 11 AM news broadcast. I wish he had a larger audience via the 10 PM news because I like his offerings substantially more than 'Chow Chow for Now' James Ward. I am sure we're just waiting for a retirement.

Regards,

And the winners are... (at least the chicago-relevant winners are)

Steve Dolinsky, for National Radio Food Show
Thomas Schlesser Design, for their design of avec (tied with a mexico city restaurant).
Tony Mantuano, best chef midwest.


Full results at http://www.jamesbeard.org

2006 local james beard award winners and losers:

Shawn McClain (Spring) won best chef midwest
Steve Dolinsky won for best televised news segment


Alinea managed to lose Best New Restaurant to The Modern, somehow.

Rich Melman lost Outstanding Restaurateur to Daniel Boulud.

Tru lost outstanding service to Gary Danko

Graham Elliot Bowles lost Rising Star Chef to Corey Lee of the French Laundry. Sorry GEB

Way too much NYC bias this year. I think 7 out of 11 major awards went to NYC restaurants.

This begs the question, are these awards even relevant anymore? Or, were they ever relevant?

On Fri Apr 08, 2005 Cathy2 wrote:

Steve being nominated for his radio show is hardly a surprise. I am glad he has a gig at Channel 7 WLS-TV on Wednesdays and Fridays at the 11 AM news broadcast. I wish he had a larger audience via the 10 PM news because I like his offerings substantially more than 'Chow Chow for Now' James Ward. I am sure we're just waiting for a retirement.

On Tuesday April 9 2006 G Wiv wrote:

I nominate Cathy2 for a Cleo Award, as in Miss Cleo the Psychic as Steve Dolinsky is now ABC 7's very own Hungry Hound, has replaced the retired James Ward and has just added yet another James Beard Award to his list of accomplishments.

Congratulations Steve!

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I nominate Cathy2 for a Cleo Award, as in Miss Cleo the Psychic as Steve Dolinsky is now ABC 7's very own Hungry Hound, has replaced the retired James Ward and has just added yet another James Beard Award to his list of accomplishments.

Ask and ye shall receive.

HI,

I accept my Clio with enthusiasm and modesty. Really Steve deserved to be elevated to the 10 PM Friday slot. He works really hard getting his picture into every restaurant and food shop we visit! Sometimes he gets there before us!

***

There was another James Beard award winner from Chicago: Spatulatta, which is a children's cooking class on the internet produced locally. The Chicago Tribune has a very nice article.

The year-old Web site is the creation of television producer Gaylon Emerzian, a neighbor of the Gerasoles', whose long-standing dream of starting a children's cooking site on the Internet became a reality after she realized that the girls would make ideal hosts.

"We're trying to convince kids that food does not come out of a box, and we're trying to encourage families to see cooking not as a chore but as quality time that families can spend together," Emerzian told the award audience at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.

Designed to be easy

Spatulatta's dishes are designed to be easy enough for children to make and also to introduce new flavors and ingredients to the often finicky palates of young diners. One recent show included spanakopita, the Greek spinach and feta cheese pie.

Regards,