Miami's Own Chef Nando Chang of Itamae AO Gets a James Beard Award
The chef from the Nikkei cuisine restaurant-in-a-restaurant was one of two nominees for the city (Italian cocktail destination ViceVersa was nominated in the Best New Bar category, though it went to Identidad Cocktail Bar in Puerto Rico), alongside two other Florida finalists that did not ultimately take home awards.
Tasting menu-centric Itamae AO's Chang won over such nominees as both Matthew Cooper from Confier and Rafael Rios from Yeo's El Alma de Mexico in Bentonville, Ar.; and both Kevin Garcia from La Faena AgroCocina and Angel David Moreno Zayas from Ell Gallo Pinto in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Overall, it was an exciting night for the industry, where the awards paid tribute to standout destinations across the country, including New York's Jungsik Yim of Jungsik as Outstanding Chef across the nation, and Boulder, Colo.'s Frasca Food and Wine for Outstanding Restaurant.
A full list of winners is available here. See More:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
American tennis star dumps World No. 1 in stunning U.S. Open move
When it was first announced that American tennis star Emma Navarro would play with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner at the reimagined Mixed Doubles event at the U.S. Open, Navarro joked that she 'would try to get a better partner next year.' 'He was begging me to play, he was saying, 'I heard about your volleys and your doubles skills. Please. please play with me,' Navarro cracked last month on Tennis Channel. 'I said, 'Yeah, sure, I guess. I guess I'll play with you. You're not the best player, but I'll make an exception and try to get a better partner next year.'' Well, it turns out that Navarro won't play with Sinner at all in the $1 million event that runs Tuesday and Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The No. 11-ranked player in the world and the daughter of billionaire Ben Navarro, Emma Navarro pulled out of the Mixed Doubles in order to play a WTA 500 event in Monterrey, Mexico in the week leading up to the start of the singles tournament at the U.S. Open (Aug. 24). Navarro is coming off losing early on hardcourts in Montreal and Cincinnati, and playing in Mexico will give her more practice matches heading into the U.S. Open, where she reached the semifinals a year ago. According to the USTA, Sinner has until 2 p.m. on Sunday to find a new partner for the U.S. Open. The Italian is set to play in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open on Saturday, and could face Carlos Alcaraz in Monday's championship match. Navarro, who made headlines at Wimbledon when a group of Knicks-clad fans attended her matches to support her, isn't the only big-name female star skipping the new Mixed Doubles event. World No. 2 Coco Gauff said she didn't 'want to waste mental energy' on the event, while No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and her partner Grigor Dimitrov are out after Dimitrov sustained a pectoral injury at Wimbledon. The event is still loaded with star tandems, though, including Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe, Emma Raducanu and Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic, Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton and Venus Williams and Jack Draper. As for Navarro, good luck finding a 'better partner' than the world No. 1 in 2026. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at
New York Times
8 hours ago
- New York Times
Dan Tana, Whose Clubby Red-Sauce Restaurant Drew Stars, Dies at 90
Dan Tana, a promising teenage soccer player who defected from Communist Yugoslavia, bounced around teams in Western Europe and Canada, won a big poker game one night in 1956 and high-tailed it to Hollywood, where he opened the buzziest and most beloved Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, died on Saturday in Belgrade. He was 90. The death, at a hospital, was caused by cancer, his daughter Gabrielle Tana said. In 1964, after stints as a Beverly Hills maitre d' and a character actor, Mr. Tana (pronounced TAN-uh) opened his restaurant, named Dan Tana's and known as just Tana's. It occupied a 1929 bungalow, formerly home to a burger joint, and fit a little over a dozen tables. Tana's both did and did not perpetuate the spirit of the building's rustic origins. On the one hand, Tana's became the kind of restaurant where different tables might be occupied by Brad Grey, the chairman of Paramount Pictures, and Sumner Redstone, the chairman of Viacom — Mr. Grey's boss's boss. Generational succession transpired: Johnny Carson ate there before Jay Leno, Julie Christie before Cameron Diaz. Drew Barrymore was widely described as having had her diapers changed right on the bar. Yet other regulars included Luis the 911 operator; a lawyer known for his ponytail; a woman who ran a safari company; and David Naylor, Hollywood's 'Bachelor No. 1,' a serial dater of starlets, who labeled attendance at Los Angeles's other restaurants 'amateur hour.' On a scale of 1 to 10, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1989, 'the people-watching at Tana's rates 10.' It was often compared to New York's best-known clubhouse canteens, like Elaine's and Rao's, and Mr. Tana himself to its leading restaurateurs, like Toots Shor. The restaurant's hipness depended somehow on its orthodoxy. The interior and the menu remained locked in midcentury America's imagination of an Italian restaurant — including after a fire in 1980, when customers pleaded with Mr. Tana to exactly replicate the old saloon, and after Mr. Tana sold it to a friend in 2009. 'She didn't change anything,' Mr. Tana boasted to Air Mail in 2021 about his successor, Sonja Perencevic. 'Dan Tana's is as much a part of the Hollywood landscape as fan palms, Botox and tanning salons,' Air Mail wrote. The average experience of a night at Tana's went something like this: You walked under a green awning into a space so dark your eyes took a second to adjust. The décor was repeatedly described as 'bordello red': red Naugahyde booths, red-and-white checked tablecloths, red Christmas-tree lights on the ceiling and, everywhere, mounds of marinara sauce. Your table, lit by candlelight, would generally occupy a dark, recessed corner. Your waiter would not be the Los Angeles archetype — a beautiful but incompetent aspiring young actor — but instead, dressed in black bow tie, a professional, courteous gentleman from the former Yugoslavia. Mr. Tana himself, though frequently attending to his international soccer interests in London or Belgrade, where he had homes, might also stop by your table to greet you. He had an athlete's build — six feet tall, broad shouldered — but also the sophistication of a confident speaker of Russian, German, French, Italian, English and Serbo-Croatian. 'His manners are old world: He is one of the few men who can carry off kissing a woman's hand,' Los Angeles magazine reported in 1997. 'He does it swiftly, smoothly and without hesitation, the same way he lights your cigarette.' Ordering was, in a sense, not hard: 'Everything looks and pretty much tastes the same,' The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2006. A 1987 reviewer for the paper was more generous, crediting the cuisine with 'two varieties: red and white.' Even the New York strip steak came with pasta. But who thinks to order dishes called 'veal Jerry Weintraub,' 'chopped salad Nicky Hilton,' 'steak Dabney Coleman' or 'braciola Vlade Divac' for culinary reasons? The scene was the point. So many Los Angeles athletes visited that Craig Susser, a longtime maitre d', became superstitious about what he called the 'trading table.' Wayne Gretzky and Mr. Divac had sat there before being traded by their teams. Protectively, Mr. Susser refused to give the table to Shaquille O'Neal. Regulars during the 1970s described a particularly rowdy era: the musician Nils Lofgren serenading strangers with an accordion while high on acid; a fight between an agent and a producer over a third man's wife that left enduring blood stains on the restaurant's carpeted floor. 'Our best clients are the regulars who come at least once or twice a week,' Mr. Susser told The New York Times in 2005. 'Even a studio chief might not get a booth at the last minute if they haven't been in for a while.' Mr. Susser, who had the tab of an early date with his wife unexpectedly picked up by George Clooney, considered himself the Tana's heir apparent — until 2009, when Mr. Tana sold out to Ms. Perencevic, an independently wealthy friend, also from the Balkans. In 2011, Mr. Susser opened a rival restaurant, called Craig's, not far away, drawing investors partly from Tana's regulars. The New York Times asked Mr. Tana for comment. He brushed off the defection with an empire builder's long historical view. 'Craig was my eighth manager in almost 60 years,' he said. 'With each one, I lost some new customers and regained some old ones.' Dobrivoje Tanasijević was born on May 26, 1935, in Cibutkovica, a small town outside Belgrade, where he grew up. His father, Radojko, was a restaurateur. His mother, Lenka (Miloseviv) Tanasijevic, resourcefully kept the family afloat during World War II, when Radojko was arrested. He was considered an ally of the old ruling classes by the Yugoslav Communists, and he wound up becoming an accountant at one of the restaurants he had owned. In the early 1950s, Dan, still a teenager, was on the farm team of Red Star Belgrade, a professional soccer club. The team traveled to Belgium, where he got into a fight with the chaperone. He and a couple of friends promptly defected. After playing soccer in the Southern German League and in Montreal, he won his big poker game and set out for America. He changed his name when his fledging acting career began. He tended to play Germans, Russians, gangsters, communists, fascists and criminals, he told Los Angeles magazine. 'I always got killed, and I never got to kiss the girl,' he added. He earned a living by working at restaurants like La Scala, in Beverly Hills. When some friends were having trouble running a pub called Domenico's Lunch Spot, he offered to take over the lease for a dollar down and subsequent payments over the years amounting to $30,000. Initially, there was little indication of the restaurant's future success. One winter evening in 1966, the only customers were a party of six. Mr. Tana decided to comp them appetizers. One diner turned out to be Art Ryon, a columnist for The Los Angeles Times. He called Tana's 'new and charming,' boasting 'tasty stracciatelle' and the distinction of being 'the only restaurant in town that serves Chicken Lisbon.' While presumably smiling wryly at his typewriter, Mr. Ryon added, 'Reservations might be wise.' 'From then on, we never had a night when we served less than 220 dinners,' Mr. Tana told Variety in 2014. Mr. Tana's name gained a widespread sense of vague familiarity when he agreed to lend it to the main character of 'Vega$,' a series about a private eye named Dan Tanna that ran on ABC from 1978-81. His first marriage, to Andrea (Wiesenthal) Tana, ended in divorce. He married Biljana (Strezovski) Tana in 2006. In addition to his wife and Gabrielle, he is survived by another daughter from his first marriage, Katerina Tana. Unlike other Los Angeles restaurants, the walls of Tana's do not have signed pictures from movie stars so much as soccer paraphernalia. There is a poster — but it is from 'Vega$.' A bartender told The Observer of Britain that this aloofness was actually the restaurant's appeal to Hollywood. 'All these stars come to Dan Tana's because of Dan Tana,' he said. 'I think they know he's a man with a history. Sure, he's one of them; but he's different: He's lived a very different life.'
Buzz Feed
14 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Celebrities Who Spoke Candidly About Odd Upbringings
We all know childhood can be tough, and parents can be even tougher at times. But these celebs have some seriously wild stories from their childhoods that reveal the rather unconventional ways they were raised. From religious cults to hippie communes, here are 11 celebrities' stories of their unique upbringings that'll make you sit and ponder for hours. Drew Barrymore grew up going to nightclubs with her parents early on as a child star, which quickly resulted in alcohol and drug addiction. Born into stardom with a front row seat to the entertainment industry, Drew Barrymore didn't have much of a say in her childhood or career. Both her parents were actors well-mixed up in the wild schemes of Hollywood, making it difficult for Barrymore to get away from the spotlight. "I used to get high with my mum's friend at like 10. I thought she was so cool, she would give weed to me and her son," the former child star shared. By the time she was 11 months old, Barrymore's mother started her in commercial acting, a path that seemed set in stone from the beginning. Then, by the age of seven, Barrymore booked her first of many huge roles in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She began clubbing with her mother at Studio 54 shortly after, partaking in various drugs and alcohol at the young age of 9. From partying with rock stars 24/7 and getting into all sorts of trouble, Barrymore checked into rehab by the time she was 12, relapsing a year later and landing in a mental institution the following year. Barrymore stated that her childhood and early life were "not normal…and I needed some severe shift." She went on to seek emancipation from her mother and father at 14, trying to escape the harsh life of childhood stardom and the many hardships that followed. Looking back on her harsh childhood, Barrymore shared, "Having a 10-year-old daughter now… it's unfathomable." Joaquin Phoenix was born into a religious cult known as the "Children of God" that his parents left early on after learning of their eerie practices. Joaquin Phoenix had quite a strange upbringing, as he was born into what he described as a deeply disturbed cult disguising itself as a religious community group. His parents were highly religious individuals who sought a community of like-minded people to discuss their beliefs, unaware of the deranged practices of the group that forced them to leave shortly after. The "Children of God" cult was reportedly a very sexualized environment full of unorthodox practices and reports of sexual abuse of children. The actor claimed his parents never partook in such undertakings, and as they learned more about the religious group, they went, "Wait a minute. This is more than a religious community. There's something else going on here, and this doesn't seem right... And so they left very early on," Phoenix said. Rose McGowan also grew up in the Italian chapter of the "Children of God" cult before escaping years later. Coincidentally, Rose McGowan was also a part of the "Children of God" cult as a child. Her father was the head of the Italian chapter, and McGowan traveled to various of their communes throughout her childhood all over Europe. Described as a religious group with "hippie" ideals, McGowan and her family soon realized the dangers of the cult and left before any mistreatment plagued them. Winona Ryder had a bit of an unconventional childhood, where her parents moved around a lot, even living in a commune in North Carolina at some point. Winona Ryder was born in Winona, Minnesota, on a farm to beatnik parents who loved hanging out with poets, authors, and other artists. Her mother, a past projectionist at the University of Minnesota, would help tie a sheet to the barn so Ryder could watch movies, which is where she remembers truly falling in love with them. By the time she was seven, Ryder had already lived in Minnesota, California, and was headed to North Carolina to live on a commune called "Rainbow." She wouldn't quite describe the place as such, but they lived among seven other families with no electricity and no television. It's reported that the commune was based on the principles of nonviolence and egalitarianism that involved lots of meditation, prayer, and hope for world peace. Then, at age 10, Ryder moved back to California, where she continued to be an outsider and struggled with bullies. Keanu Reeves moved schools so much as a child that he eventually dropped out altogether, finding work in the entertainment industry at just age 15. Keanu Reeves grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, yet had an unconventional childhood with education and schooling in his early adolescent years. He moved schools four times within five years, which caused him great disarray. Reeves eventually dropped out of school completely to focus on his dreams of working in film and television. Despite not having a formal education, Reeves still sought out the entertainment industry as his next venture. At age 15, Reeves had already gotten a gig working as a production assistant on low-budget films. By the time he was 16, Reeves had worked in music videos, and by age 19, he had started getting serious film roles that launched his career into stardom. Glenn Close grew up in the controversial Moral Re-Armament cult, where she lived in their Swiss headquarters during parts of her childhood. Glenn was in the cult, Moral Re-Armament, from age 7 to 22. She's repeatedly spoken out about the emotional and psychological trauma she had to deal with during her time with the group. "I mean, it's astounding that something that you went through at such an early stage in your life still has such a potential to be destructive. I think that's childhood trauma," Glenn said."Because of the devastation — emotional and psychological of the cult — I have not been successful in my relationships and finding a permanent partner and I'm sorry about that. I think it's our natural state to be connected like that," she continued. Tilda Swinton was a child of the Scottish aristocracy and was a part of the "owning class" until being sent off to boarding school at age 10. Tilda Swinton grew up in the lowlands of Scotland, where her father was a Major General in the military. She belonged to an aristocracy of Scotland that her parents pushed her out of to attend boarding school. With her social position and status, Swinton could've continued her rich family history, but chose differently instead. "I think they realised fairly early on that I was not going to marry a duke," Swinton shared, which caused her parents to send her to boarding school, where she didn't speak for five years. Jared Leto grew up in hippie art communities, traveling all over the country with his family. From Wyoming to South America, Jared Leto moved around all over as a child, often living a bohemian lifestyle within various communal places with hippie artists. His mother always strived for Leto and his siblings to have strong, vivid imaginations and access to musical instruments. Leto shared, "Just having the art communal hippie experience as a child, there wasn't a clear line that was drawn." However, Leto has expressed immense gratitude for his mother and childhood, claiming, "She encouraged her kids to be creative and work hard and do something special." Zooey Deschanel grew up traveling the world with her famous parents, which led to lots of bullying as a child for never being at school. Zooey Deschanel revealed that she spent most of her childhood traveling with her parents to whichever countries they were filming their movies in at the time. Her parents were both industry professionals. Her father was a cinematographer, and her mother was an actress, which meant she traveled to places like the Seychelles and Yugoslavia, too young to appreciate them. "I hated it at the time. I was miserable. If you're eight and you live in Los Angeles and everybody has toys and you go to a country that has a Marxist dictatorship and there's no toy stores, and nobody speaks English and, like, you know, it's blazing hot every day (and) they only have fish, which you don't like." Deschanel also recalled lots of bullying because of all the traveling, in which she return home and would be faced with "nobody likes you because you were weird and you went away." Jaden and Willow Smith grew up in the spotlight due to their famous parents, but we're given no punishments and free will to do whatever they wanted as kids. The famous children of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith grew up quite differently from your average kid on the block. From red carpet premieres and movie set visits, Jaden and Willow had various opportunities in the spotlight within the entertainment industry. Their unconventional parenting tactics allowed Jaden and Willow to be rid of any sort of consequences or restrictions for their actions. Both kids moved out of the Smith household at ages 16 and 18 to be on their own. They jump-started their modeling, acting, and music careers — never really looking back. And finally, Brooke Shields began modeling at just 11 months old, growing up in the harsh spotlight of Hollywood, which led to decades of sexualization and exploitation. Brooke Shields' mother put her into modeling when she was just 11 months old, jumpstarting what would be a tumultuous Hollywood career with not as much glamour as you might think. Her mother was an alcoholic at the time, but managed Shields throughout her childhood. Shields recalls the two partying at Studio 54 together, then having to go to regular school the next day. However, she claimed her mother "had her issues, but I felt loved by her." Then, at age 11, Shields starred in the extremely controversial film Pretty Baby as a child prostitute. Sadly, Shield's time as a child star was subject to lots of exploitation and sexualization of her body. Yet, now championing a 55-year career in the industry, Shields is telling her own story on her terms.
