As a transportation hub, Chicago has always been a place of comings and goings, so it was appropriate that two of this year's James Beard Foundation Awards honored one Chicago chef who is a recent arrival and one who is from Chicago but now hangs his toque elsewhere.
The Rising Star award, given to an exceptional chef under age 30, went to Grant Achatz of Evanston's Trio restaurant, while the medallion for best Midwest chef was carried away by Takashi Yagihashi, executive chef at Tribute in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills.
Achatz, who is 29, spent four years at The French Laundry in northern California before returning to his native Midwest two years ago. The young chef recalled that the first time he walked into the famed Yountville, Calif., restaurant, legendary chef Thomas Keller was mopping the floor.
"He is the role model, as far as I'm concerned, in this business," said Achatz, who grew up in a restaurant family in Richmond, Mich. "If the dishes need to be washed, he's washing the dishes. If he sees a cigarette butt in the parking lot, he picks it up and throws it away."
That attention to the smallest detail earned Keller's Napa Valley establishment this year's outstanding service prize. Considering Trio's already lofty reputation among Chicago restaurants, Achatz acknowledged that owner Henry Adaniya took a chance by letting him create his own style, a "permanent revolution" of constant discovery.
"He was willing to let me do that," Achatz said. "For us to lock onto a repertoire and run with it for years is not what we're about." Achatz' creativity helped earn Trio a four-star rating from Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel last year.
To win the best Midwest chef award, Yagihashi had to beat out three tough Chicago competitors--Paul Kahan of Blackbird, Michael Kornick of mk and Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia--as well as Roger Johnsson of the Minneapolis branch of New York's Aquavit.
After several years as chef de cuisine at Ambria, Yagihashi left Chicago to run his own kitchen at Tribute, which serves contemporary French dishes with occasional Asian accents.
"I was very happy working with [Ambria chef-owner] Gabino [Sotelino], but I needed to start to walk myself," he said. "That was seven years ago, and so far, so great."
Another Chicago-area winner was Steve Dolinsky, who won the radio short-format broadcast award for Public Radio International's "The World." Dolinsky is also the host of "Good Eating" on CLTV, the Tribune Co.'s Chicago-area cable channel.
In addition to honoring America's best chefs, sommeliers, cookbook writers and food journalists, this year's awards presentation at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square delivered a tribute to James Beard, whose 100th birthday would have been May 5, the day of the awards. The ballroom stage was decorated with Andy Warhol-like portraits of the cookbook author and chef, often called the father of American gastronomy.
The night's biggest winner was San Francisco's Zuni Cafe, which was named this year's outstanding restaurant. In addition, "The Zuni Cafe Cookbook," by chef-owner Judy Rodgers, won the award for best general cookbook from a professional point of view and then went on to capture the prize for best cookbook of the year.
Among the 30 teams of chefs who prepared dishes for the perennially mobbed gathering were Blackbird's Kahan and Michael Foley of Printers Row. For the more adventurous, Kahan served sauteed veal sweetbreads, whose chewy texture was set off by crisp baby beets. Fowl-lovers flocked to Foley's green peppercorn-spiced duck breast in a brothy, buttery wild mushroom ragout.
Other winners at this year's awards, sponsored by the non-profit Beard Foundation:
Outstanding chef: Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin, New York. Best new restaurant: L'Impero, New York. Outstanding pastry chef: Karen Barker, Magnolia Grill, Durham, N.C. Outstanding wine service: Daniel, New York. Outstanding wine and spirits professional: Fritz Maytag, Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco. Humanitarian of the year: Julia Erickson, executive director, City Harvest, New York. Lifetime achievement: Marion Cunningham, cookbook author and educator, Walnut Creek, Calif.
America's best chefs by region: California: Hiro Sone, Terra, St. Helena, Calif. Mid-Atlantic: Jose Andres, Jaleo, Washington, D.C. New York City: Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit. Northeast: Barbara Lynch, No. 9 Park, Boston. Northwest/Hawaii: George Mavrothalassitis, Chef Mavro Restaurant, Honolulu. Southeast: Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison, Bacchanalia, Atlanta. Southwest: Chris Bianco, Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix.
Outstanding restaurant design: Vicente Wolf, Vicente Wolf Associates, for L'Impero Restaurant, New York. Outstanding restaurant graphics: Craig Neuman, Darren Abbott and Ai Osada, Three Wide Marketing, for 40 Sardines, Overland Park, Kan.
America's classics awards (for locally owned restaurants renowned for their timeless appeal and quality food): Anchor Bar, Buffalo; Duarte's Tavern, Pescadero, Calif.; The Shed, Santa Fe; Lexington Barbecue No. 1, Lexington, N.C.; The Skylight Inn, Ayden, N.C.
Inductees into the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America: Hubert Keller, Marion Nestle, Alain Sailhac, Jacques Torres and Norman Van Aken.
Winners of the 2003 James Beard book awards:
Americana: "Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations," Lois Ellen Frank. Baking: "Baking in America," Greg Patent. General/Cooking for Every Day: "Local Flavors," Deborah Madison. International: "Thai Food," David Thompson. Literary: "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health," Marion Nestle. Mediterranean: "Glorious French Food," James Peterson. Reference: "I'm Just Here for the Food," Alton Brown. Single subject: "The Flavors of Olive Oil," Deborah Krasner. Tools and Techniques: "Process This!" Jean Anderson. Vegetarian/Healthy focus: "Passionate Vegetarian," Crescent Dragonwagon. Wines and spirits: "Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine." Photography: "The Anatomy of a Dish," Victor Schrager, photographer, and "Belinda Jeffery's Tried and True Recipes," Rodney Weiland, photographer (tie). Cookbook hall of fame: Edna Lewis for her body of work, including "The Edna Lewis Cookbook, "The Taste of Country Cooking," "Gift of Southern Cooking" and "In Pursuit of Flavor."
Broadcast media awards
Best television special: "Morimoto: RAW (Restaurateur, Artist, Warrior)," Masaharu Morimoto, host; Food Network. Best local television show: "Great Wine Made Simple: Andrea Immer in Chile," Andrea Immer, host; Maryland Public TV. Best national television show: "World Pastry Cup," Nick Versteeg, host; Food Network. Best television food segment-local or national: "Martha Stewart Living TV," Martha Stewart, host; WCBS, New York. Best radio, long format: "McDonald's: Fast Food and Animal Rights," Daniel Zwerdling, host; All Things Considered, NPR.
Journalism awards
In a separate ceremony, the following awards were presented: Magazine or newspaper or Internet reporting on consumer issues, nutrition and/or health: Mark Stuertz, Dallas Observer. Internet writing on food, nutrition, travel, restaurant and beverage: Natalie Maclean. Magazine feature writing with recipes: Kelly Alexander, Saveur. Newspaper feature writing with recipes: Candy Sagon, Washington Post. Magazine feature writing without recipes: Bill Buford, The New Yorker. Newspaper feature writing without recipes: Kim Severson, San Francisco Chronicle.
Magazine feature writing about restaurants or chefs with or without recipes: Sheila Himmel, San Jose Mercury News. Newspaper feature writing about restaurants or chefs with or without recipes: Bruce Feiler, Gourmet. Magazine review: Tanya Wenman Steel, Bon Appetit. Newspaper review: Jason Sheehan, Westword, Denver. Magazine series: Dan Hofstadter, Michael Pollan and Phyllis Richman, Gourmet. Newspaper series: Kim Severson and Lynne Char Bennett, San Francisco Chronicle.
Newsletter writing on food, beverage, restaurant and nutrition: David Rosengarten, The Rosengarten Report. Magazine writing on spirits, wine and beer: Lyn Farmer, The Wine News. Newspaper writing on spirits, wine and beer: Rod Smith, Los Angeles Times. Newspaper food section under 300,000 circulation: St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Newspaper food section over 300,000 circulation: Star Tribune, Minneapolis. M.F.K. Fisher distinguished writing award: Lettie Teague, Food & Wine.