You may think that this coming weekend is all about Mother’s Day. But the nation’s diehard foodies are, instead, focused on a rotund, jovial gent with a foppish bow-tie, a bald head, a picturesque townhouse in Greenwich Village, and a reputation as the Father of American Food.
That would be James Beard, and today would have been his 108th birthday if he were still on this earth eating and drinking with his trademark gusto. (Photo from website Sweetpaprika.com.)
To celebrate Beard's important contributions to the development of a distinctly American cuisine and his efforts to promote the use of seasonal, regional foodstuffs, the not-for-profit James Beard Foundation sponsors workshops, classes, conferences, nightly dinners prepared by chefs from around the country and served at Beard’s West 12th Street home, and this annual spring weekend of award ceremonies.
Tomorrow night, the JBF, which explains its mission as “celebrating, nurturing and preserving America’s diverse culinary heritage and future,” will host the JBF Media & Book Awards. Awards will be given for best cookbooks (in multiple categories); best writing in such areas as Health & Nutrition, and Food Culture and Travel; Best Restaurant Criticism; and for accomplishments in broadcast journalism such as Best Television Program.
On Monday evening, thousands of black-tied food professionals – chefs, restaurateurs, winemakers, journalists, publicists, cheesemakers, farmers and more – will converge on Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall for the annual Restaurant & Chef Awards, when kudos such as Best Chef: Northwest; Best Chef: New York City; Outstanding Pastry Chef; and Outstanding Wine Service are bestowed. Considered the “Oscars” of the food world, the glitzy program is followed by a dazzling reception of food and drink provided by an all-star cast of chefs.
This afternoon, I visited the JBF LTD “Pop-Up Restaurant” a temporary restaurant and food pavilion at Chelsea Market. The pop-up, which is in place until May 14th, features nightly dinners and lunches by high-profile chefs, free tastings and seminars, giveaways, and demos by on-air and Food Network Kitchens talent.
Today’s program featured a spirited panel discussion, moderated by national restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, on the subject of Beard’s life and his impact on America’s food world. Joining Wolf were NYTimes columnist Melissa Clark, artisanal butcher Jake Dickson of Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, Café Boulud chef Gavin Kaysen(who was voted James Beard Rising Star Chef in 2008), and JBF vice-president Mitchell Davis.
Each regaled the audience with stories of personal connections to Beard. Clark reminisced about a childhood spent skimming through her mother’s Beard cookbooks and testing recipes on her own, including the maddening process of beating eggwhites for meringue. Dickson spoke of his job at a butcher shop when he was in high school and his fascination with the artistry of shaping meat into things like crown roasts. Wolf himself remembered the day in 1976 when he was working at a San Francisco cheese shop and Beard blew in the door. “He was an enormous man, dressed in a floor-to-ceiling black trenchcoat,” Wolf laughed. “He said his cardiologist wouldn’t let him come into a place like this but did I, by the way, have any St. Nectaire."
At the panel’s conclusion, a handsome birthday cake was served to everyone in the audience. Said to be one of Beard’s favorite desserts, the Pithivier was a wispy puff pastry concoction with almond paste prepared by renowned pastry chef/chocolatier Jacques Torres.
Check out this site in a few days for the results of the Awards ceremonies.
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