The 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards

On Monday evening we attended the James Beard Foundation Awards gala to honor the best chefs and restaurants in the country.  What is often referred to as “the Oscars of the food world” lived up to its expectations.  Hosted at Avery Fisher Hall (Lincoln Center) and emceed by Alton Brown, this was a food star studded event complete with black tie, red carpet and paparazzi.  Sipping champagne at Lincoln Center with Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jaques Pépin may only happen once in my lifetime, so I am happy to have been a part of the evening.

Outdoors at Avery Fisher Hall

Chefs from around the country prepared small bites inspired by recipes from James Beard

Standing amongst such talented and passionate people was inspiring. Some are legends for their contribution to the landscape of the American culinary scene and others for their charitable work.  Charlie Trotter received the Humanitarian of the Year award for his extraordinary philanthropic work and Wolfgang Puck received the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Wolfgang Puck had quite an entertaining story to tell about his life and was surprisingly humorous.

As an Atlantan, I was thrilled to see the award for Best Chef Southeast go to not one, but two of our great local chefs.  Chefs Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta and Hugh Acheson of Five and Ten in Athens, Georgia tied for the honor and both took home the coveted James Beard Foundation Award.  A big congratulations go out to them!  If y’all heard a roaring scream in the back left of Avery Fisher Hall, it just might have been us supporting the hometown boys.  😉

It’s a tie! Chefs Linton Hopkins and Hugh Acheson both win Best Chef Southeast

I look forward to the continued evolution of the culinary arts.  It seems to change with each passing day as new influences shape our food culture.  There are movements underway which portend a shift in how we think about food.  In the South in particular, as “local and sustainable” and heritage ingredients are seamlessly incorporated in to our everyday lives, new themes are emerging and I am excited to be a voice in this process.

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