Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Jean Georges restaurant has been named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation in a ceremony that ended moments ago at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. The Outstanding Chef award went to Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurant, New York.
Momofuku Ko, owned by David Chang and Peter Serpico, was awarded the Best New Restaurant prize.
Drew Nieporent of Myriad Restaurant Group (Corton and others) was named Outstanding Restaurateur.
Florida had a three-out-of-five chance of bringing an award to the Sunshine State two years in a row. Nominated for Best Chef: South were: Zach Bell, Cafe Boulud; Douglas Rodriguez, Ola; and Michael Schwartz, Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink. But taking the award was John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, MS.
Of course, Oxford, Mississippi, can get a nomination, but an Orlando chef has yet to be on the short list. (It should be noted that no major awards went to Chicago this year, either, a major snub.)
The evening was hosted by two chefs, Cat Cora and Emeril Lagasse, along with Stanley Tucci, who as far as I know, only played a chef in Big Night. Both Cora and Lagasse, by the way, have restaurants in Orlando (Cora will open Kouzzina at Disney’s BoardWalk in the Fall).
For a complete list of winners, visit the James Beard Foundation Awards page.