James Beard Award Nods: Boston Yawns
Every March, the James Beard Foundation announces its list of nominees for Beard Awards: the foodie equivalent of the Oscars. This prestigious list honors the country’s top restaurants, chefs, journalists, authors, restaurant designers, sommeliers…even websites. The foundation then hosts a big gala in May or June to announce the winners, and everyone has a big party and compares medals and the cycle begins anew.
We send out our hearty congratulations to this year’s “Best Chef, Northeast” nominees:
Patrick Connoly, Radius
Rob Evans, Hugo’s (Portland)
Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, Arrows (Ogunquit)
Michael Leviton, Lumiere
Marc Orfally, Pigalle
These are all worthy contenders, and they make New England a great place to live and eat.
So why do we yawn?
It’s my weak protest against the Beard Foundation’s repetitive approach to award-granting.
Because the above list is nearly identical to last year’s list of nominees, with the lone exception of Patrick Connoly, who takes the place of last year’s winner: Frank McClelland of L’Espalier.
Also–and forgive my hometown boosterism–Boston is rarely represented among the higher-profile national categories, such as “Outstanding Restaurant” and “Best Chef.” Typically, those nods go to a rotating group of celebrity chefs from New York and San Francisco (with L.A., Chicago, and Seattle making less frequent but regular appearances). It’s a shame, especially in a year when O Ya was just recognized in the New York Times as the best new restaurant in the country.
It makes me wonder about the nomination process: who’s making the decisions, where they live, and how often they travel to cities outside the foodie triangle. Meanwhile, the Beard Foundation has been trying to reestablish its bona fides after a recent financial scandal and rumors of cronyism. I wish this year’s list of nominations did more to suggest a fresh start for the organization.
p.s. Congratulations to Bostonrestaurant critic Corby Kummer whose work in The Atlantic was nominated in the “Food-Related Columns” category.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
agreed about the redundancy of the chef candidates. And why are all the restaurants represented by these chefs expensive, white-tablecloth, tasting menu style places, if not French then in the french tradition (with marketing firms)? Some of these marginal nominees very obviously get in there year after year by “working the old-boy network”.
I thought that the original mission of the Beard Foundation was to promote american cooking and the work of distinctively american chefs . . .