Latest news with #BestChef:Northeast
Boston Globe
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
What I ate and saw at the 2025 James Beard Awards
The crew from Providence embrace Gift Horse chef Sky Haneul Kim after it was announced that she had won Best Chef: Northeast, a regional chef award, at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. Eliesa Johnson The co-owners of Sullivan's Castle Island in South Boston, Brendan Sullivan and his wife Adrienne Sullivan (fourth and fifth from the right), are honored as "America's Classic" winners at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. Eliesa Johnson The annual awards ceremony takes place at the Lyric Opera House. The biggest chefs, commentators, and members of the food media are decked out in floor-length ballgowns and tuxedos. But that's just the beginning. A post-awards celebration immediately follows at Chicago's Union Station, featuring tastings and beverages from chefs around the country. You either walk or take a limousine from the Opera House to the station, which is decorated with sofas and sparkling objects, and filled with a 'who's who' of Some of the Beard finalists and previous winners prepared small, delicious bites like an agnolotti pasta with English peas, roasted mushrooms, pistachio, and crème fraîche made by chef Matt Vawter of Advertisement Chef and co-owner Serigne Mbaye of Dakar in New Orleans attends the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. Clay Williams Advertisement 'We were literally slammed with all of the people who wanted a taste,' said Mbaye's business partner and Dakar's managing director Dr. Afua 'Effie' Richardson when I ran into her at the airport the day after the awards. A board-certified pediatric dentist, she sold her practice in order to help fund the opening of Dakar. The black eyed pea soup at Dakar in New Orleans. A version of this soup was prepared for the 2025 James Beard Awards. Alexa Gagosz Alaska chef Beau Schooler served an Alaskan scallop crudo at the 2025 James Beard Awards. Clay Williams Anyone who reads this newsletter knows how much I love raw fish, so one of my favorite bites was prepared by chef Jeffrey Steelman of Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi Bar in Chicago, who made Advertisement Chef Varanya Geyoosawat of Kann in Portland, Oregon – a restaurant by the celebrated Haitian-American chef Gregory Gourdet, who is another James Beard award winner – served a delicious Caribbean shrimp curry with jasmine rice at the 2025 James Beard Awards. Alexa Gagosz Chef Varanya Geyoosawat of Big brands were certainly in attendance this year: Wine and tequila producers were providing tastings and bubbles never stopped flowing into flutes, while bartenders were shaking up cocktails using tried and true spirits. Keven Vetter of McCormick for Chefs served tropical esquites with aji amarillo – he also gave out small bottles of the spice bottle for people to bring home. A bar at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. (Eliesa Johnson) Eliesa Johnson While the awards ceremony recognizes the hard work that America's restaurant workers, chefs, bartenders, sommeliers, and others put in every day, the after party is where people get to let loose. The pressures of business and hierarchies within the industry vanish as the food elite mingles with writers, chefs, and fans. Daniel Boulud, the legendary French chef and restaurateur, hung out and took a photo with a crew from Providence, made up of chefs and owners from Oberlin, A cut of salmon served at the afterparty of the 2025 James Beard Awards. Clay Williams Celebrity chefs, like Marcus Samuelsson (of And then there were the after-after parties. Along with Providence chef Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway (a finalist for Best Chef: Northeast this year) and his crew, we headed to Advertisement Marcus Samuelsson and Daniel Boulud attend the 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards on June 16, 2025 in James Beard Foundation Moore, who is from the South Side of Chicago, was also named a semifinalist this year for the first time. 'As a Black chef for 25 years, when I look at restaurants and I look at us… many chefs in this room, and a lot of people who won today, it was such an experience for me to see that and for [them] to be here, in my house,' said Moore. Thanks for reading The Food Club. ✍️ This newsletter is written and produced by ✉️ Send comments, suggestions, and story tips to 📧 Did someone forward this newsletter to you? 📱 Delivered every Thursday. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
James Beard changes award listing for New England chef
Mar. 25—The James Beard Foundation has changed its listing for 2025 Best Chef: Northeast nominee Lee Frank, citing his fine-dining venue in New Hampshire instead of his burger restaurant in Maine. Chef Lee Frank had initially been listed in the award category in association with Lee Frank's in South Berwick, a casual burger and hot dog joint he's owned and operated since 2021. The official award listings on the James Beard website now cite Otis Restaurant, his upscale tasting-menu venue in downtown Exeter, New Hampshire. Frank was nominated for his work at Otis in the same category for the 2024 James Beard Awards. Frank said the change was made a few weeks after the nominations were announced in late January. He reached out to the Beard foundation to ask about the listing. "I was shocked that I was listed for a second time," Frank said. "And then I was obviously slightly surprised that it was for the burger joint and not for Otis. Not that the burger joint is not worth it, I think it just doesn't have the connotation that people think when they think of the award." His contact let him know she would check with the nomination committee about the matter. Shortly after, she let Frank know the committee had decided to change the listing from Lee Frank's to Otis Restaurant. "In terms of process, for confidentiality, semifinalists are not notified before the public announcement," explained Dawn Padmore, vice president of awards for the James Beard Foundation. "After the semifinalists are announced, we often receive requests for updates or edits to the listings as chefs and restaurants learn about their recognition in real time." Now that Lee Frank's restaurant has been removed, the two Maine-based nominees in the Best Chef: Northeast category this year are Jake Stevens of Leeward and Jordan Rubin of Mr. Tuna, both in Portland. "At the end of the day, I'm happy to be nominated regardless of what restaurant it's associated with," Frank said. Copy the Story Link
