Latest news with #AshokSelvam
Eater
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Eater Chicago's Ashok Selvam Wins James Beard Media Award
The 2025 James Beard Foundation Media Awards took place on June 14 in Chicago, and Eater Chicago's Ashok Selvam won the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award. The award recognizes, according to the Beards, 'the work of an individual who engages readers through enterprising food and dining coverage, and whose work displays versatility in form, such as reviews, profiles, cooking, quick hits, and hard news reporting.' Leading Eater's Midwest region including Chicago, Detroit, and Twin Cities, Selvam was recognized for his enterprising reports like his coverage of the aftermath of Etta Collective's bankruptcies and a feature on the evolving cuisine of Indian American chefs, as well as more light-hearted writing, including a spotlight on the milkshakes that helped White Sox fans endure a losing season. In addition, Punch was recognized with a journalism award in the Beverage category for Craig Sauers's feature story on the Herculean challenges that distilleries face in Thailand. This award recognizes 'distinctive style, thorough knowledge, plainspoken prose, and innovative approach in a single article on alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages.' These wins came among six nominations for Eater and Punch, including nominations for Eater correspondent Jaya Saxena for the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, Eater Chicago freelance contributor Nylah Iqbal Muhammad in the Foodways category, Eater's video team in the Commercial Media category, and an additional nomination in the Beverage category for Punch contributor Mickey Lyons. This marks Eater's 13th and Punch's fourth James Beard Media Award in the past eight years. Elsewhere at Vox Media, Gastropod co-host Nicola Twiley won in the Literary Writing category for her book Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves from Penguin Press.
Eater
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Here Are the 2025 James Beard Foundation Media Award Winners
Congratulations are in order for many members of food media: Tonight during a ceremony in Chicago, the James Beard Foundation announced its 2025 Media Award winners, bestowing medals to food professionals working in cookbooks, journalism, and television and audio programming. The awards whittled down winners from a long list of finalists that was announced in early May. Among the winners: Eater Chicago editor Ashok Selvam won the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award, while Ashleigh Shanti won a cookbook award for Our South: Black Food Through My Lens . In the Emerging Voice categories, Broadcast went to Mohammed Shaqura and Hamada Sho, a content creator based in Gaza; Journalism to MacKenzie Chung Fegan of the San Francisco Chronicle , whose recent story about her experience at the French Laundry was the talk of the town; and Cookbooks to Paola Velez, author of Bodega Bakes . At the ceremony, host Padma Lakshmi noted the importance of the current political moment — with the awards ceremony coinciding with a military parade in Washington, D.C. and anti-Trump protests across the nation — noting that, 'This is our America. All of us. It's important to say that out loud.' Martha Stewart was named the recipient of the inaugural Broadcast Media Hall of Fame Award, designed to recognize a 'visionary individual who has revolutionized the way food is presented and discussed on television, radio, or streaming platforms.' (She accepted via a pre-taped message.) The Cookbook Hall of Fame Award went to Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Cake Bible . The final winners in the restaurant and chef Awards categories will be celebrated on Monday, June 16, during a gala ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Below, find all the book, broadcast, and media winners: 2025 James Beard Media Award Winners Baking and Desserts: Sift: The Elements of Great Baking ; Nicola Lamb (Clarkson Potter) Beverage with Recipes: The Bartender's Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar ; Emma Janzen, Jim Meehan, and Bart Sasso, (Ten Speed Press) Beverage without Recipes: . Sake: The Art and Craft of Japan's National Drink ; Yoshiko Ueno-Müller, (Prestel) Bread: Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking ; Richard Hart, Henrietta Lovell, and Laurie Woolever, (Clarkson Potter) Food Issues and Advocacy: Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch ; Andrea Freeman, (Metropolitan Books) General: Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes: A Cookbook ; Carolina Gelen, (Clarkson Potter) International: The Balkan Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans ; Irina Janakievska, (Quadrille) Literary Writing: Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves ; Nicola Twilley, (Penguin Press) Professional and Restaurant: Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California's Wine Country ; Rogelio Garcia and Andréa Lawson Gray, (Abrams) Reference, History, and Scholarship: McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches ; Gary He, Self-published) Single Subject: Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking (More than 60 Recipes Featuring Gochujang, Doenjang, and Ganjang) ; Nadia Cho, Mingoo Kang, and Joshua David Stein, (Artisan) U.S. Foodways: Our South: Black Food Through My Lens ; Ashleigh Shanti, (Union Square & Co.) Vegetable-Focused Cooking: Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques ; Joe Yonan, (Ten Speed Press) Visuals: McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches ; Gary He, (Self-published) The 2025 James Beard Broadcast Media Award winners: Audio Programming: Loading Dock Talks with Chef Preeti Mistry ; 'Cream Pie with Telly Justice'; Airs on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms Audio Reporting: Post Reports ; 'Bacon: The Best-Kept Secret in Washington'; Airs on: Post Reports Commercial Media: La Mera Mera Tamalera ; Airs on: YouTube Documentary Visual Media: MARCELLA ; Airs on: PBS American Masters Docuseries Visual Media: World Eats Bread ; Airs on: National Geographic Channel Instructional Visual Media: G.O.A.T; Airs on: MasterClass Lifestyle Visual Media: Relish ; Airs on: PBS, Passport, TPT, TPT-2 and YouTube Social Media Account: Little Fat Boy; Airs on: Instagram, TikTok, Substack and YouTube Travel Visual Media: Drink: A Look Inside the Glass ; Airs on: Apple TV, Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku More information about Broadcast Media Awards eligibility and criteria can be viewed here. The 2025 James Beard Journalism Award winners Beverage: 'Want to Make Spirits in Thailand? Good Luck.'; Craig Sauers , Punch Columns and Newsletters: 'The farm bill hall of shame'; 'The essential workers missing from the farm bill'; 'Tribal nations want more control over their food supply'; Teresa Cotsirilos, Bridget Huber, and Claire Kelloway, Food & Environment Reporting Network and Mother Jones Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award: 'New tasting menu dinners at Honeysuckle Provisions are provocative and delicious'; 'The enduring, confusing, and always delicious Octopus Cart is still puffing along after 34 years'; 'Loch Bar, a new high-end seafood spot on Broad, swings big and misses'; Craig LaBan, Philadelphia Inquirer Dining and Travel: 'Gastro Obscura's Feast'; Anne Ewbank, Diana Hubbell, and Sam O'Brien, Gastro Obscura Feature Reporting: 'We Need to Talk About Trader Joe's', Adam Reiner, TASTE Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication: The Bitter Southerner Foodways: 'As Detroit sees a future in urban agriculture, some pushback harkens to a dark past'; Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press Health and Wellness: 'Florida Banned Farmworker Heat Protections. A Groundbreaking Partnership Offers a Solution.'; Grey Moran, Civil Eats Home Cooking: 'The Art and Science of Kimchi'; Andrea Geary, Cook's Illustrated Investigative Reporting: 'The North Koreans behind global seafood'; 'The Whistleblower'; Ian Urbina and the Staff of The Outlaw Ocean Project, The Outlaw Ocean Project and The New Yorker Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award: 'Etta's Five Bankruptcies Have Left a Collective Mess'; 'White Sox Fans Came for the Losses, Stayed for the Milkshakes'; 'Namasteak, USA'; Ashok Selvam, Eater Chicago MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: 'The City that Rice Built'; Jeff Gordinier and George McCalman, Food & Wine Narrative Photography: 'The Only Constant is Chuck's'; Rory Doyle, Self-published Personal Essay: 'My Family's Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza'; Mosab Abu Toha, The New Yorker Personal Essay with Recipes: 'A Cuisine Under Siege'; Laila El-Haddad, SAVEUR Profile: 'Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar'; Helen Rosner, The New Yorker Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2025. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation. Additional photo illustration credits: Getty Images for the James Beard Foundation
Chicago Tribune
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
James Beard Foundation announces 2025 media award nominees, next cohort of Taste America chefs
The James Beard Foundation announced on Wednesday its list of book and media nominees for the James Beard Awards, which included Chicago native Ashok Selvam, regional editor for Eater Midwest. The nominees for its book, broadcast media and journalism awards celebrate digital and traditional media — radio, television broadcasts, podcasts, documentaries, online sites, social media — covering food and beverage topics published or self-published in 2024. Selvam was nominated for the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award for his work published in 2024, including an article titled 'Namasteak, USA.' Selvam said that story in particular was a significant one for him, highlighting the growing South Asian food scene in Chicago. 'I've been quietly doing stories about South Asian food for some time, and it's kind of my mile mark, and for that particular story, I think it was kind of about time,' Selvam told the Tribune. '(As we saw) so many Chicago restaurants and chefs that were popping up, becoming the epicenter. And not a lot of people consider Chicago when they think of South Asian 一 and there are (South Asian chefs) who have contributed to the cultural fabric of the city for years, but have not necessarily gotten the recognition for whatever reasons.' The James Beard nomination was a first for Selvam, who joked about the early days of working for Eater, where they were paid a flat rate of $25 per story, regardless of the complexity or sources involved. Winners will be honored at a ceremony June 14 at the Columbia College Chicago Student Center. The Tribune covets two nominees and one James Beard Award winner on its Dining staff. Reporter Ahmed Ali Akbar received a James Beard Award in 2022 for Feature Reporting. Last year, Tribune food critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu was one of three James Beard Foundation finalists for the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award. A few days before the foundation announced the media awards, it revealed the 2025-2026 lineup of TasteTwenty chefs, its annual selection of 'ones to watch' in the industry. The cohort includes Jacqueline Hernandez of Bar Sótano, the Rick Bayless-owned lounge in River North. Hernandez will represent Chicago throughout the national Taste America series. Other cities being represented include: Asheville, North Carolina, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami Nashville, Tennessee, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sante Fe, New Mexico, Seattle and Washington, D.C. 'Each chef of the TasteTwenty cohort is chosen not only for their exceptional culinary talent but also for their meaningful contributions beyond the kitchen. They're champions of positive change — from investing in their teams, supporting sustainable agriculture, advocating for a more resilient food system, and more,' the foundation said in a release. 'These chefs represent the future of American dining.' The cohort is part of the Foundation's ongoing commitment to identifying and elevating the outstanding chefs who are at the forefront of American food culture, said Clare Reichenbach, chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation. In February, the James Beard Foundation announced the winners of its America's Classics award, which recognizes six 'locally owned restaurants that have timeless appeal' across the country. Among this year's honorees is the oldest Black-owned barbecue restaurant in Chicago, Lem's Bar-B-Q. The foundation also released its annual list of semifinalists from across the United States. The final winners in the restaurant and chef Awards categories will be announced on June 16, during a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The April 2 announcement included nominees for Outstanding Restaurateur, Best New Restaurant, and the regional Best Chef awards, as well as finalists for three new categories: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. Among the finalists vying for its coveted Restaurant and Chef awards are five Chicago chefs and restaurants, including first-time nominees Galit and Kumiko. Kumiko was nominated for Outstanding Bar, Galit for Outstanding Restaurant and three Chicago finalists are in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category: Thai Dang of HaiSous; Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower of Maxwells Trading; and Noah Sandoval of Oriole. The James Beard Awards are considered to be among the nation's most prestigious honors for the culinary industry. This year will also commemorate the 35th anniversary of the awards and celebrate what the foundation calls the 'transformative role the awards have played in honoring culinary excellence and shaping the evolution of American food culture.' Last year, Chicago saw just one local winner at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, with Lula Cafe winning for Outstanding Hospitality.
