James Beard Award Winners (2017)

Congratulations to the winners.

Best New Restaurant
Le Coucou
NYC

Outstanding Baker
Mark Furstenberg
Bread Furst
Washington, D.C.

Outstanding Bar Program
Arnaud’s French 75 Bar
New Orleans

Outstanding Chef
Michael Solomonov
Zahav
Philadelphia

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Ghaya Oliveira
Daniel
NYC

Outstanding Restaurant
Topolobampo
Chicago

Outstanding Restaurateur
Stephen Starr
Starr Restaurants (Le Coucou, Serpico, Upland, and others)
Philadelphia

Outstanding Service
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Pocantico Hills, NY

Outstanding Wine Program
Seattle

Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional
Sam Calagione
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Milton, DE

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Zachary Engel
Shaya
New Orleans

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Sarah Grueneberg
Monteverde
Chicago

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (D.C., DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Greg Vernick
Vernick Food & Drink
Philadelphia

Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Kevin Nashan
Sidney Street Cafe
St. Louis

Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs)
Marco Canora
Hearth

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY State, RI, VT)
Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley
Eventide Oyster Co.
Portland, ME

Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY)
Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton and Greg Denton
Ox
Portland, OR

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, FL, LA, MS)
Rebecca Wilcomb
Herbsaint
New Orleans

Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Steven Satterfield
Miller Union
Atlanta

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, CO, NM, OK, TX, UT)
Hugo Ortega
Hugo’s
Houston

Best Chef: West (CA, HI, NV)
Corey Lee
Benu
San Francisco

L.A. is on its own interesting food journey as a city. It does suck for the local SoCal nominees to miss out on the win. But as a food city, not an iota of need for the James Beard / Michelin hype. Well I’ll be off now - my luscious $9.75 Popcorn Chicken bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup awaits.

p.s. Respect and Congrats to the winners.