Table Talk Online + This Week's Edible Events
Ok, we’ll admit it. We wait all year for this day. It’s our Oscar’s, our Tony’s, and our Emmy’s all rolled up in one big, sloppy bite. It’s the James Beard Foundation Awards and it’s taking place tonight at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. So what if Bourdain calls them a shakedown? (He might have a point.) For us (and many others, we presume) it’s a fun excuse to make predictions (like others have), monitor our Twitter feed (or watch live like we’ll do this year), and celebrate the industry we love and adore.
The ceremony itself is a black-tie event where guests are treated to a slew of speeches and on-stage back-slapping. So who from Boston will be there this year? Blue Ginger‘s Ming Tsai hits the stage as a co-host tonight while chefs Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer are behind the scenes cooking for the reception (if you’re lucky enough to have tickets, be sure to try their coconut green curry tripe with galangal foam). Guests at Friday’s Broadcast and Journalism Awards dinner, including our own dining critic Corby Kummer who was up for an award, sat down to salmon wrapped in vine leaf, created by Oleana chef-owner (and Best Chef, Northeast ’05) Ana Sortun.
As for the awards themselves, we’re dying to see who wins this year’s Best Chef, Northeast (the list of finalists is below). Our money is on a Boston (er, Cambridge?) winner but Providence has been showing well, too. We’ll have a full report later this week. In the meantime, who would you like to see win?
Best Chef, Northeast:
Krista Kern Desjarlais, Bresca (Portland, ME)
Gerry Hayden, The North Fork Table & Inn (Southold, NY)
Matt Jennings, La Laiterie (Providence)
Eric Warnstedt, Hen of the Wood (Waterbury, VT)
Best New Restaurant Award:
Menton
Outstanding Pastry Chef Award:
Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery
This Week’s Edible Events
5/9 – Cooking Matters at Tremont 647
Chefs from Pigalle, Dante, La Morra, and Kickass Cupcakes join Tremont’s Andy Husbands to cook a five-course meal with all proceeds going to Share Our Strength. (6 pm, $60. Tremont 647, 647 Tremont St., Boston. For reservations, call 617-266-4600.)
5/10 – Slake: Los Angeles reading at Tory Row
This superb, left coast quarterly brings its show east; check out readings by the entertaining LA Weekly columnist, Jonathan Gold, as well as Slake co-editor Laurie Ochoa. (7:30 pm, 3 Brattle St. Cambridge. For details, call 617-876-8769.)
5/10 – Dinner with author Paul Greenberg at Lumiere
Author of “Four Fish, the Future of the Last Wild Food,” and a lifelong fishmerman, Greenberg joins the team at Lumiere for a 5-course meal featuring local fish and shellfish. (6:30 pm, $65, $90 with wine pairings. 1293 Washington St., Newton. For reservations, call 617-244-9199.)
5/12 – A Taste of Beacon Hill
The annual dine around showcases bites from Beacon Hill restaurants. (6-9 pm, $65. Omni Parker House Hotel, 60 School St., Boston. Tickets available online.)
