Winners were announced Monday night, May 9, 2011, at the annual 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries.  During a ceremony hosted by Tom Colicchio, Traci Des Jardins and Ming Tsai at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, awards in the Restaurant and Chef and the Design and Graphics categories were presented, as well as a number of special achievement awards including Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America, America’s Classics, Lifetime Achievement, and Humanitarian of the Year.  Winners of the Foundation’s annual Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards were presented on May 6, 2011, at the ceremony and dinner at Espace in New York City, hosted by Ted Allen of Food Network’s Chopped and The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Gail Simmons of Bravo’s Top Chef.  A complete list of all award-winners can be found on www.JBFAwards.com.

Highlights from this year’s list of winners include:

Outstanding Chef: Jose Andres (minibar, Washington, D.C.)

Outstanding Restaurant: Eleven Madison Park (NYC, Owner: Danny Meyer)

Rising Star Chef: Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon, Portland, OR)

Best New Restaurant: ABC Kitchen (NYC, Chef/Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Owner: Phil Suarez)

In addition, special achievement award honorees included:

Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America: Jonathan Gold (Writer, LA Weekly, Los Angeles); Lee Jones (Farmer/ Owner, Chef’s Garden, Huron, OH); Charles Phan (Chef/Owner, The Slanted Door, San Francisco, CA); Frank Stitt (Chef/Owner, Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, AL); Nick Valenti (CEO, Patina Restaurant Group, New York, NY)

America’s Classics: Chef Vola’s (Owners:  Louise Esposito, Michael Esposito, Michael Esposito, Jr., Louis Esposito, Atlantic City, NJ); Crook’s Corner (Owner:  Gene Hamer, Chapel Hill, NC); Noriega Restaurant and Hotel (Owners:  Linda Elizalde McCoy and Rochelle Ladd, Bakersfield, CA); Le Veau d’Or (Owner:  Robert Treboux, New York, NY); Watt’s Tea Shop (President and CEO:  Sam Watts, Milwaukee, WI)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Kevin Zraly (Wine Educator and Author, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course)

Humanitarian of the Year: FareStart (Founder:  David Lee)

Highlights from the Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards announced on Friday, May 6, 2011, at the Awards dinner at Espace included:

Cookbook of the Year: Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy by Diana Kennedy (University of Texas Press)

Cookbook Hall of Fame:  On Food and Cooking: The Science & Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee

Publication of the Year: Edible Communities

M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly, “A Movable Beast”

Audio Webcast or Radio Show:  CBC Ideas: “Pasta: The Long and Short of It” Host: Megan Williams, Area: Canada and Online, Producers: Susan Mahoney and Megan Williams

Television Program, In Studio or Fixed Location: Top Chef: Season 7, Host: Padma Lakshmi, Network: Bravo, Producers: Tom Colicchio, Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, and Dave Serwatka

Television Program, On Location: Avec Eric, Host: Eric Ripert, Network: PBS, Online Producers: Justin Barocas, Heather Brown, and Geoffrey Drummond

TV Food Personality/Host: Alton Brown, Show: Good Eats, Network: Food Network

Food Section of a General Interest Publication: San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Bonne and Miriam Morgan

Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review: Patric Kuh, Los Angeles, “Animal Magnetism,” “Making Their Move,” “Time for a Redo?”

Group Food Blog: Grub Street New York, Newyork.grubstreet.com, Daniel Maurer, Jenny Miller, and Alan Sytsma

Individual Food Blog: Politics of the Plate, Politicsoftheplate.com, Barry Estabrook

Industry leaders from across the country attended the highly-anticipated festivities, which celebrated this year’s Awards theme of “The Ultimate Melting Pot,” a tribute to the nation’s wonderfully diverse food culture, a mosaic of influences from many lands, as described by James Beard himself in American Cookery, in which he acknowledged the unique character of American food that resulted from the varied backgrounds of American citizens.  In a nod to this year’s theme, the Foundation invited both chefs who have emigrated from various places to America as well as chefs born in America that have been inspired by international cuisines to present dishes that reflect the country’s multi-cultural influences.  At the Gala Reception immediately following the Awards Ceremony, guests enjoyed a dine-around gala prepared by these notable chefs, including many of this year’s winners and nominees, among them Jose Andres, Saipin Chutima, Tyson Cole, Andy Ricker and Michael Solomonov.

In addition, to celebrate this year’s theme, “The Ultimate Melting Pot,” the James Beard Foundation announced a new scholarship initiative for 2011.  The new initiative, the James Beard Foundation Scholarship for Immigrants in the Kitchen, will award four $5,000 scholarships, fully funded by Food Network, to four aspiring chefs for their culinary education.  A unique feature of this scholarship is that it will be earmarked for students who have immigrated to America from another country.  Since its inception, the Foundation’s Scholarship program has awarded over 3.6 million dollars to deserving culinary students, and is proud to announce a program, with founding support from Food Network, that will recognize the international flavors, ingredients, and recipes that continue to inform and redefine American cuisine.  The winners will be selected in Spring of 2012.

Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and continue to emphasize the Foundation’s mission: to celebrate, nurture, and preserve America’s diverse culinary heritage and future.  The annual James Beard Foundation Awards honor the best and the brightest talents in the food and beverage industries, celebrating outstanding achievement in each of the following categories: Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design and Graphics, Books, Broadcast Media, Journalism, and special achievement awards.  Each category has an individual Awards Committee made up of industry professionals who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and selection of judges for their respective Awards program.  All award winners receive a certificate and a bronze medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia.  There are no cash prizes.

The 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards are presented with support by the following partners: In Association Sponsors: All-Clad Metalcrafters, Groupon; Premier Sponsors: Green & Black’s® Organic Chocolate, Lenox Tableware and Gifts, Mercedes-Benz; Supporting Sponsors: The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Lavazza, Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, Stella Artois; Gala Reception Sponsors: Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water, Central 24/7 Michel Richard Caesars Palace, Certified Angus Beef®  Brand, Ecolab, Pernod Ricard USA, Restaurant Guy Savoy Caesars Palace, Rums of Puerto Rico, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water; and with additional support from Chefwear and St. Giles Hotel.

Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation is dedicated to celebrating, nurturing, and preserving America’s diverse culinary heritage and future. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships to culinary schools, and publications, and by maintaining the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org.  Find insights on food at the James Beard Foundation’s blog Delights & Prejudices. Join the James Beard Foundation on Facebook. Follow the James Beard Foundation on Twitter.

Is Los Angeles getting snubbed by the James Beard Foundation?

The foundation doles out its prestigious awards May 3 at a star-studded gala at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. As foodies everywhere know, they’re the Oscars of the culinary world, arguably the highest honor handed out. Categories include outstanding chef, restaurant, pastry chef, restaurateur, wine service, best new restaurant and the career-making rising star chef of the year.

And of the 36 chefs and restaurants named as finalists in those seven marquee categories this year, exactly one is from Los Angeles: Suzanne Goin, of Lucques and Tavern, who is nominated for outstanding chef. By contrast, eight finalists are from New York City, and nine are from San Francisco.

It’s easy to see why some in Los Angeles and Southern California feel overlooked. Though it is true that Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich took outstanding restaurateurs in 2008, that award honored the entirety of their extensive restaurant holdings, including the three Mozza properties in Los Angeles.

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Spruce tip syrup and beach asparagus aren’t found on many menus, but they are staples on the dining room tables of the Gustavus Inn.

The inn provides full-service lodging, travel booking and three meals a day for its guests-meals that haven’t gone unnoticed. Last month, the Gustavus Inn was named a recipient of the 2010 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Award. The honor is bestowed to five restaurants per year by one of the country’s most distinguished recognition programs in the eating industry.

The award came as a surprise to owners Dave and JoAnn Lesh, who don’t know who nominated their restaurant for the award.

“We hadn’t even known about the James Beard Foundation, much less think we’d ever have an award for cooking the food that we like to eat ourselves,” Dave said.

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The James Beard Foundation has announced the five honorees for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards America’s Classics category. The America’s Classics award is given to restaurants with timeless appeal, beloved for quality food that reflects the character of their community – from small, regional restaurants, watering holes and shacks, to lunch counters and down-home eateries that have carved out a special place on the American culinary landscape. This year’s five America’s Classics honorees will be celebrated at the annual James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries, in an awards ceremony taking place on Monday, May 3, 2010 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. This year’s America’s Classics award is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company.

“The America’s Classics category is a wonderful representation of America and its heartland that embodies the spirit of James Beard, who loved a paper cone full of fried clams just as much as a fine French dinner,” says Susan Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation. “This is one of the Foundation’s favorite award categories each year. We all have fond memories of local hangouts, neighborhood diners and family restaurants, places that always welcome their customers with open arms and, of course, delicious food. This award truly celebrates the great variety and authentic flavors of America’s food scene. ”

The 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards America’s Classics award winners are:

Mary & Tito’s Cafe (2711 Fourth St. N.W., Albuquerque, NM; Owners: Mary Gonzales and Antoinette Knight)
In 1963, native New Mexicans and husband and wife team Tito and Mary Gonzales opened this beloved adobe cafe just north of downtown Albuquerque. When Tito, the cafe’s original chef, passed away, Mary continued to run the front of the house, oversee the business and raise their family. Year after year, diners from near and far drop in to enjoy some of the best New Mexican food in the state, all while seated in a colorful dining room stocked with the Gonzales family’s treasured mementos and photos of the many patrons who have visited. More than four decades later, Mary & Tito’s Cafe continues to delight guests with its decades-old family recipes, including their signature fork-tender carne adovada (long-braised pork in red chile sauce), served as the centerpiece of many a meal, in overstuffed burritos, and as a filling for empanadas and enchiladas. Today, the cafe still remains in the family, with daughter Antoinette managing the restaurant while other family members help serve guests.

The Bright Star (304 19th St. North, Bessemer, AL; Owner: Jimmy Koikos and Nick Koikos)
In an area where many of the local restaurants are Greek-owned, The Bright Star continues to outshine the competition as the oldest and most storied of the pack. Tucked away in Bessemer, Alabama, an old steel town southwest of Birmingham, The Bright Star serves up an intriguing and delicious menu of Greek-meets-Southern cuisine, as interpreted by African American
cooks. From broiled Greek-style snapper to fried red snapper throats (house-cut from whole Gulf fish), cornmeal-crusted okra and field peas with snaps, the menu reads as a melting pot of culture and cuisine. The Bright Star has been family-run since 1907 when Greek immigrant Tom Bonduris (a Peloponnese native) first opened the restaurant, with its tiled floors, mirrored and marbled walls, intricate woodwork and painted murals lining its walls. His cousin, Bill Koikos, emigrated from Greece in 1920 to join the business, and today, many of Tom and Bill’s descendants still run the restaurant, with septuagenarian Jimmy Koikos and his younger brother Nicky leading the charge since 1966.

Al’s French Frys (1251 Williston Road, South Burlington, VT; Owner: Bill Bissonette)
Al’s French Frys has been a Burlington-area institution since Al and Genevieve Rusterholz first opened the restaurant in the 1940s. Originally housed in a small hut with an open front counter and no inside seating, Al’s quickly became known for their crispy, crackly made-from-scratch fries, so much so that spud enthusiasts still line up day and night to get their french fry fill, whether it’s a pint or the ever-popular quart size. Today, the Bissonette family owns and operates the restaurant, led by Bill Bissonette, who makes sure that the famous fries remain true to the original recipe, even after 60 years.

Calumet Fisheries (3259 E 95th Street, Chicago; Owners: The Kotlick and Toll Families)
Set on the edge of the Calumet River on the 95th Street Bridge on Chicago’s South Side, Calumet Fisheries has been a foodie and fisherman favorite since brothers-in-law Sid Kotlick and Len Toll first opened its doors in 1948. Strictly carryout (there are no seats, no bathroom, no credit cards and no parking), the stand-alone shack serves freshly fried seafood, from oysters,
shrimp, scallops, crab and catfish to perch, smelts and frog legs. But Calumet Fisheries may be best known for their oaksmoked seafood – salmon steaks, trout, chubs, shrimp, etc. – slowly cured in a tiny smokehouse behind the shop. Still owned and operated by the Kotlick and Toll families, Calumet Fisheries remains the best reason to cross the 95th Street Bridge.

Gustavus Inn (PO Box 60, Gustavus, AK; Owners: JoAnn and David Lesh)
Gustavus, Alaska is home to 400 citizens who all have one thing in common: their love for the Gustavus Inn. A part of the Lesh family for three generations the Gustavus Inn, a red-roofed farmhouse inn and restaurant, has welcomed locals and visitors alike for years. At supper, the family-style meal often features a menu full of fresh-caught seafood straight from the chilly Alaskan waters. Dungeness crab, salmon, sablefish and a dish called Halibut Caddy Ganty – a quintessential Alaskan dish of fish cooked with onion, mayo and sour cream – all share pride of place on the menu with fresh produce from the Inn’s garden, which thrives despite the limited growing season.

“We are honored to be a sponsor of this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards, and in particular, of a category that resonates with Coca-Cola’s own place on the American cultural landscape,” says Dana Barba, AVP Marketplace Development of Coca-Cola North America, sponsor of this year’s America’s Classics award. “The James Beard Foundation Awards recognize the best of the best in food, restaurants and chefs and our association brings the equity of great brands together.”

To qualify for the America’s Classics award, establishments must have been in existence at least 10 years and be locally owned, and such spots are usually informal and moderately priced. The honorees are selected each year by the James Beard Foundation’s Restaurant Committee, which is composed of 17 people throughout the country, many of whom are notable food critics and culinary writers. The Foundation also holds a public call to entries (via a website hosted by StarChefs.com), allowing the public the opportunity to offer suggestions for which restaurants they think should win.

Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and continue to emphasize the Foundation’s mission: to celebrate, preserve, and nurture America’s culinary heritage and diversity. The annual James Beard Foundation Awards honor the best and the brightest talents in the food and beverage industries, celebrating outstanding achievement in each of the following categories: Restaurants and Chefs, Books, Journalism,
Restaurant Design and Graphics, Broadcast Media, and special achievement awards.

The annual James Beard Foundation Media and Book Awards Dinner, an exclusive event honoring the nation’s top cookbooks, food journalists and culinary broadcast programs, will take place on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at Espace in New York City. The following evening, the James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception will take place at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, during which the Restaurant and Chef and Restaurant Design and Graphics awards will be handed out, along with a number of special achievement awards, including the America’s Classics honorees. All award winners receive a certificate and a bronze medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia.

The 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards are presented in association with All-Clad Metalcrafters; Premier Sponsor: Green & Black’s® Organic Chocolate, Mercedes-Benz USA; Supporting Sponsors: The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Food Network NYC Wine & Food Festival, illy caffè North America, Inc., Louisiana Office of Tourism, Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, Stella Artois; Gala Reception Sponsors: Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water, Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Pernod Ricard USA, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water; Media Sponsor: The Wall Street Journal and with additional support from Chefwear.

About the James Beard Foundation

Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation is dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and nurturing America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships to culinary schools, and publications, and by maintaining the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org.