Washington got zero love last night at the annual James Beard Awards—the Oscars for foodies—held at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall.
In the Outstanding Chef category (think of it as Best Actor), José Andrés—nominated for the second year in a row for Minibar—was beat by New York farm-to-table champion Dan Barber (Andrés’s Los Angeles restaurant, the Bazaar, lost the Best New Restaurant category). Komi’s Johnny Monis, nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year for the second time in a row, was bested by Nate Appleman of San Francisco’s A16. And the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic medal went to Jose Garces of Amada in Philadelphia, not local competitors Cathal Armstrong (up for the third year in a row for Restaurant Eve), Peter Pastan (Obelisk), or Vikram Sunderam (Rasika). It’s a departure from last year, when Central Michel Richard and CityZen’s Eric Ziebold took home two of the top honors.
Our area had better luck at the journalism awards, held Sunday night. Although New York magazine’s Adam Platt beat the Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema in the Restaurant Reviews category, the Post took top honors for Newspaper Food Section.
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Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
