Food is the fuel for the body. How would we get anywhere without sustenance and nutrition providing us with the brain power and energy needed to live? How we think about food has resonance on so many levels. The most basic and primal – the disturbing and rising number of hungry Americans. Then there’s our fixation with fad diets in an era of utter obesity. Finally, there’s the joy of food – an appreciation of well-prepared meals from low brow to high brow, from the feel-good comfort of down home to the exquisite. The James Beard Foundation managed to touch on all of these topics under the glow of glamour at the annual award show held at Lincoln Center last night.
Hosted by Stanley Tucci, Emeril Legasse and Iron Chef Cat Cora, the best chef (Dan Barber Blue Hill) and the best restaurant (Jean-Georges) were awarded as a parade of food stars filled the audience including Mario Batali and Daniel Boulud. The theme was Women in Food — and pastry chef Gina DePalma, of Babbo in New York represented with a top award.
Thanks to an invite from Pommery sponsors, we were privy to the innerworkings of the restaurant industry at it’s best. While the affair had the aura of entertainmnent, we walked away with perspective and a voracious appetite over the course of the three hour ceremony. The pomp and circumstance was fun – Martha Stewart, clad in sparkly sequins, short-black pants and stilettos, presented the award for Who’s Who of Food & Beverage America, and Nora Ephron introduced a preview of her upcoming film Julie & Julia, a biopic about Julia Child through the lens of a blogger. Yet, we also learned about great books, like Fat and food-oriented design agency Korn and the intimate pride that each recipient had in tender speeches. A memorable moment was when the chef from Seattle’s Tilth sprinted to the stage in her chef garb from her cooking station.
And while our stomachs growled with all the hubbub over farm fresh goods, we heard stories about mom n’ pop restaurants that survived fires in Brooklyn and Iowa, and about the organization Feeding America, making our situational hunger all the more petty and the message poignant. We were tipped off about great restaurants around the country (big ups to Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a nomination.) Even cars found a way into the conversation as Lexus sponsored the best new restaurant category (Momofuku Ko). We would be lying if we didn’t mention the best part — after the ceremony chefs from the creme of the crop restaurants set up strolling stations on three floors of Lincoln Center and fed us with all kinds of tantalizing treats and succulent cocktails. Mmm, mmm, mmm.
More Gotryke Food:
Chef Thomas Keller valets the BMW X6
More James Beard Awards:
The Feedbag: Gastronomic Gazette
Eater: Live Blogging James Beard Awards
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