Massimo Bottura, Corey Lee, Enrique Olvera and Rich Torrisi all up for 2015 James Beard Awards
The US gastronomy awards have announced 2015's contenders and we're pleased to see some familiar names
The James Beard Foundation Awards are among the most prestigious accolades in North American culinary circles, and we are very happy to see some of the chefs that we work with have been nominated this year.
The 2015 nominations, which were announced earlier today, cover everything from TV series to magazine coverage, to books, restaurants and bakeries. The ceremony marks its 25th anniversary this year, and over the years we’ve been lucky enough to work with a good many James Beard winners, including Daniel Patterson, Colman Andrews and René Redzepi. Indeed, if today’s list was anything to go by, we should be working with quite a few more soon.
Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef by Massimo Bottura received a nomination in the category for books covering ‘Cooking from a Professional Point of View’; his work, which has been widely praised since we published it last year, sees Bottura take inspiration from contemporary art to create highly innovative dishes that play with Italian traditions.
Corey Lee, the brilliant Korean-American chef and founder of the San Franciscan Benu restaurant is nominated in the Best Chef: West section. Lee, who won in this category last year, has set down quite a few of his culinary and cultural innovations in our Benu book. Find out more about it here.
Rich Torrisi, author of a forthcoming book, got the nod alongside his partner Mario Carbone in the Best Chef: NYC award. The chef is best known for his beautifully judged updating of mid-20th century Italian-American fine dining. Look out for his contribution to our list soon.
Meanwhile, Enrique Olvera’s Manhattan restaurant Cosme was nominated for Best New Restaurant. This delicate, precise take on Mexican cuisine has received a great deal of praise since it opened towards the end of last year; “the cooking is a thrill,” wrote critic Pete Wells in his New York Times review. “Almost everything you taste at Cosme seems new without being forced or mannered.” To learn how Olvera does it look out for his Phaidon book, which we will be publishing in the fall.
For a full list of the chefs, restaurants and individuals nominated go here. Meanwhile, for more culinary excellence, to take a look at our food and cookery titles here.