James Beard Nominees Released

About a week late, I suppose, but they came out. The entire list can be found at http://www.jbfawards.com/home.html . Here are some of the more interesting categories:

WEBSITE FOCUSING ON FOOD, BEVERAGE, RESTAURANTS, OR NUTRITION
Chow.com
Jane Goldman

Epicurious.com
Tanya Steel

Gourmet.com
Ruth Reichl

Really surprised not to see eGullet up. Srsly.

COOKING FROM A PROFESSIONAL POINT OF VIEW
Alinea
by Grant Achatz
(Achatz LLC/Ten Speed Press)

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook
by Heston Blumenthal
(Bloomsbury USA)

Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide
by Thomas Keller
(Artisan)

Wow, talk about a great group of books. I've read all 3 of these, and they are all truly good books. This one will be interesting to watch.

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT DESIGN
For the best restaurant design or renovation in North America since January 1, 2006

Design Firm: Design Bureaux, Inc.
Designer: Thomas Schlesser
Project: The Publican, Chicago

Design Firm: Design Bureaux, Inc.
Designer: Thomas Schlesser
Project: Bar Boulud, NYC

Design Firm: Starck Network and SBE Design Team
Designers: Philippe Starck, Bruno Barrione, and Theresa Fatino
Project: The Bazaar by José Andrés at SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

I've never been to Bar Bouloud or The Bazaar, but The Publican is a really sweet space. Anyone been to the others?

OUTSTANDING CHEF AWARD
Presented by All-Clad Metalcrafters
A working chef in America whose career has set national industry standards and who has served as an inspiration to other food professionals. Candidates must have been working as chefs for at least the past 5 years.

José Andrés
Minibar
Washington, D.C.

Dan Barber
Blue Hill
NYC

Tom Colicchio
Craft
NYC

Suzanne Goin
Lucques
Los Angeles

Paul Kahan
Blackbird
Chicago
Good list here. I'm surprised at a couple of these and a couple of omissions, but this should be fun to watch play out too.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT
Presented by Lexus
A restaurant opened in 2008 that already displays excellence in food, beverage, and service and is likely to have a significant impact on the industry in years to come.

The Bazaar by José Andrés at SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Los Angeles
Chef/Owner: José Andrés
Owners: SBE

Corton
NYC
Chef/Owner: Paul Liebrandt
Owner: Drew Nieporent

L2O
Chicago
Chef: Laurent Gras
Owner: Richard Melman

Momofuku Ko
NYC
Chef/Owner: David Chang

Scarpetta
NYC
Chef/Owner: Scott Conant
L20 is a really cool spot, but I'm a bit surprised to see it up on this list. Anyone been to the others? BTW, Richard Melman and LEYE is up for Restaurateur Of The Year.

OUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE AWARD
A restaurant that displays and encourages excellence in wine service through a well-presented wine list, a knowledgeable staff, and efforts to educate customers about wine. Candidates must have been in operation for at least 5 years.

Bin 36
Chicago
Wine Director: Brian Duncan

Blackberry Farm
Walland, TN
Wine Director: Andy Chabot

Le Bernardin
NYC
Wine Director: Aldo Sohm

Patina
Los Angeles
Wine Director: Eric Espuny

Picasso at Bellagio
Las Vegas
Wine Director: Robert Smith
I actually had dinner at Bin 36 a while back with Etienne and Globetrotter. I think they'd both agree that the wine list is outstanding. Some really good single offerings and really inventive flights. The staff is also very knowledgeable about the wines and the food matches it well.

Should be an interesting awards night.

It's quite impressive to see him up for Outstanding Chef for one place and also Best New Restaurant for another. That's a feat. Have you been to minibar?

It depends, really. If you're interested in Sous Vide cookery, then Keller's book is a must-read. Explains things really well and makes you want to do it. But, it will make you want to go out and buy a thermal circulator and a vacuum sealer. And probably a lot of other stuff. It's a great resource if you're interested in it.
Alinea and the Fat Duck Cookbook are both just great reads. If you've read TFL cookbook, you'll know what I mean. It's part cookbook, part biography of the Chef/restaurant and their philosophies behind food, with fun and interesting anecdotes thrown in there. They're both very enjoyable. At the same time, neither are all that practical for the home cook. You can find blogs online of people doing dishes from both, but it involves a lot of equipment and chemicals and whatnot and the appropriate knowledge of how to use them. I think the best thing that you'd take from the two cookbooks is realizing the incredible amount of work that goes into each dish. Both restaurants have dishes that are made up of 7-9 components, and each component in itself consists of anywhere from 10 minutes to multiple hours of work. It is really incredible.

So, if you're looking for something that you can actually use in your own kitchen, I'd say get the Keller book. If you're interested in reading about Blumenthal's or Achatz's life and inspiration, definitely go for one of theirs.

That's the site I was thinking of. I hadn't been keeping up with it. Wow, 4 days ago Chef Achatz actually hired her and she's working at Alinea now? That's fucking incredible.

Edit: Fuck that was her april fool's day joke. You got me bitch, you got me.