WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2016 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION BOOK, BROADCAST & JOURNALISM AWARDS
The James Beard Foundation, the culinary industry’s most prestigious recognition program, has announced the winners of the 2016 James Beard Foundation Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards, honoring the nation’s top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food industry journalists. Nominees and guests gathered at an exclusive celebration dinner, hosted by James Beard Award winner Ming Tsai, on Tuesday, April 26, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City. A complete list of award winners can be found at the end of this release, as well as on jamesbeard.org/awards.
Highlights of this year’s winners included:
Book Awards:
Book Awards:General Cooking: The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, J. Kenji López-Alt, (W. W. Norton & Company)
Book of the Year: Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking, Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook, (Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Cookbook Hall of Fame: Deborah Madison
Broadcast Media Awards:
Outstanding Personality/Host: Vivian Howard, A Chef’s Life, Airs on: PBS
Podcast: Gravy, Host and Producer: Tina Antolini, Airs on: southernfoodways.org/gravy
Television Program, In Studio or Fixed Location: Extra Virgin, Hosts: Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos, Producers: Gordon Elliott, Mark Schneider, Dan Connell, Sara Porter, Debi Mazar, and Gabriele Corcos, Airs on: Cooking Channel
Journalism Awards:
Food Blog: Lucky Peach
Publication of the Year: Lucky Peach
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award: “A Health Food Restaurant so Cool It Will Have You Happily Eating Seeds,” “Revisiting Momofuku Ko, After the Revolution,” “Polo Bar Review: Ralph Lauren Corrals the Fashionable Herd,” Tejal Rao, Bloomberg Pursuits
M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: “Pork Life,” Todd Kliman, Lucky Peach
The Book Award judges (48 in total) include editors, authors, journalists, and culinary educators who have not published a culinary book during the current Awards year. The Broadcast Media Award judges (59 in total) include producers, educators, editors, and print journalists. Journalism Award judges (67 in total) include working editors, journalists, retired food and beverage editors and writers, and deans and professors of leading journalism colleges.
The Awards began with a cocktail reception where Pier Sixty Host Chefs Philip DeMaiolo and Matthew Tiscornia prepared an array of passed hors d’oeuvres. Dinner was prepared by James Beard Award–nominated chef George Mendes (Lupulo, New York City), James Beard Award winner Mary Sue Milliken (Border Grill, Los Angeles), James Beard Award winner Paul Bartolotta (Bartolotta Restaurants, Milwaukee), and James Beard Award winner Anne Quatrano (Bacchanalia, and Star Provisions, Atlanta). A dessert reception immediately followed, with an array of sweets provided by Marc Aumont (Gabriel Kreuther Restaurant, New York City), James Beard Award winner Emily Luchetti (Leo’s Oyster Bar, San Francisco), Carla Tomasko (Bacchanalia, Atlanta), and Miro Uskokovic (Gramercy Tavern and Untitled, New York City).
The Restaurant and Chef and Restaurant Design Awards will be announced on Monday, May 2, 2016, at the James Beard Awards Gala. A number of special achievement awards, including Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Who’s Who, Design Icon, and America’s Classics, will be also be distributed to pre-announced honorees. This highly anticipated annual celebration will take place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and will be hosted by Carla Hall. A gala reception will immediately follow, featuring top chefs and beverage professionals from across the country.
Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and further the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture, and honor America’s diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire. Each award category has an individual committee made up of industry professionals who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and selection of judges for their respective Awards program. All JBF Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash prizes.
The 2016 James Beard Foundation Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards were presented with leading support from Breville®, Goose Island Beer Co. and Lenox Tableware and Gifts. Wine and spirits were provided courtesy of Fords Gin, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and Villa Maria New Zealand.
The 2016 James Beard Awards are presented in association with HMSHost, Lexus, and Mariano’s; and the following partners: Premier Sponsors: All-Clad Metalcrafters, American Airlines, Lenox Tableware and Gifts, True Refrigeration®; Supporting Sponsors: Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water, Breville®, Goose Island Beer Co., Lavazza, Robert Mondavi Winery, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, Skuna Bay Salmon, Valrhona; Gala Reception Sponsors: Braveheart Black Angus Beef® from PERFORMANCE Foodservice, Ecolab, Groupon, Kendall College, Royal Caribbean International, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts; with additional support from: Chefwear, VerTerra Dinnerware, and Wisconsin Cheese. The James Beard Foundation also gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Chicago Department of Aviation, Choose Chicago, and the Illinois Restaurant Association.
About The James Beard Foundation
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors America’s diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org. Get food news, recipes, and more at the James Beard Foundation’s blog. Follow the James Beard Foundation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
2016 James Beard Foundation Awards Winners
2016 James Beard Foundation Book Awards
For books published in English in 2015.
American Cooking
The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook
Chris Fischer with Catherine Young
(Little, Brown and Company)
Baking and Dessert
Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More
Sarah Owens
(Roost Books)
Beverage
The Oxford Companion to Wine
Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding
(Oxford University Press)
Cooking from a Professional Point of View
NOPI: The Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully
(Ten Speed Press)
Focus on Health
Lighten Up, Y’all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome
Virginia Willis
(Ten Speed Press)
General Cooking
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
- Kenji López-Alt
(W. W. Norton & Company)
International
Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
(Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Photography
Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel
Photographer: Heidi Swanson
(Ten Speed Press)
Reference and Scholarship
The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks
Toni Tipton-Martin
(University of Texas Press)
Single Subject
A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood
Diana Henry
(Mitchell Beazley)
Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian
V Is for Vegetables: Inspired Recipes & Techniques for Home Cooks
Michael Anthony
(Little, Brown and Company)
Writing and Literature
Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)
Marion Nestle
(Oxford University Press)
Book of the Year
Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
(Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Cookbook Hall of Fame
Deborah Madison
2016 James Beard Foundation Broadcast and New Media Awards
Presented by Breville® and Lenox Tableware and Gifts
For television, web, and radio programs aired in 2015.
Documentary
The Starfish Throwers
Director: Jesse Roesler
Producers: Jesse Roesler and Melody Gilbert
Airs on: DirecTV Audience Network and iTunes
Outstanding Personality/Host
Host: Vivian Howard
A Chef’s Life
Airs on: PBS
Podcast
Gravy
Host: Tina Antolini
Producer: Tina Antolini
Airs on: southernfoodways.org/gravy
Radio Show/Audio Webcast
The Food Chain: Chinatown
Host: Dan Saladino
Producers: Kent DePinto, Sarah Stolarz, and Dan Saladino
Airs on: NPR Stations/BBC World Service
Special
Lidia Celebrates America: Home for the Holidays
Host: Lidia Bastianich
Producers: Laurie Donnelly, Anne Adams, and Shelly Burgess Nicotra
Airs on: PBS
Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location
Hosts: Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos
Producers: Gordon Elliott, Mark Schneider, Dan Connell, Sara Porter, Debi Mazar, and Gabriele Corcos
Airs on: Cooking Channel
Television Program, on Location
I’ll Have What Phil’s Having
Host: Phil Rosenthal
Producers: Laurie Donnelly, Phil Rosenthal, Richard Rosenthal, John Bedolis, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Craig H. Shepherd, and David Beebe
Airs on: PBS
Television Segment
PBS NewsHour’s “Food4Thought”
Host: Allison Aubrey
Producer: Mary Beth Durkin
Airs on: PBS
Video Webcast, Fixed Location and/or Instructional
Indian Curries: The Basics & Beyond
Host: Raghavan Iyer
Producer: Jared Maher
Airs on: craftsy.com
Video Webcast, On Location
The Sushi Chef: Oona Tempest and Toshio Oguma
Producer: Elana Schulman
Airs on: munchies.vice.com
Visual and Technical Excellence
Chef’s Table
Directors: David Gelb, Clay Jeter, Brian McGinn, and Andrew Fried
Photographers: Will Basanta and Adam Bricker
Editors: Brad Grossman, J. Santos, Eric Freidenberg, Ravi Subramanian, Adrienne Gits, and Jesse Overman
Airs on: Netflix
2016 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards
For articles published in English in 2015.
Dining and Travel
“America’s Best Food Cities”
Tom Sietsema
The Washington Post
Food and Culture
“Straight-Up Passing”
John Birdsall
Jarry
Food and Health
“The Healthy Cook’s Guide to Fat”
Sidney Fry and Robin Bashinsky
Cooking Light
Food Blog
Lucky Peach
Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication
Los Angeles Magazine
Lesley Bargar Suter and Bill Esparza
Food-Related Columns
“Eat”
Francis Lam
New York Times Magazine
Food Reporting
“Seafood From Slaves – An AP Investigation Helps Free Slaves in the 21st Century”
Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason, and Robin McDowell
Associated Press
Home Cooking
“Cook Like a Pro!”
Adam Rapoport
Bon Appétit
Humor
@Freshcutgardenhose
Maryse Chevriere
Personal Essay
“On Chicken Tenders”
Helen Rosner
Guernica
Profile
“Christiane Lauterbach: The Woman Who Ate Atlanta”
Wendell Brock
The Bitter Southerner
Visual Storytelling
“One Night: Kachka”
Erin DeJesus, Danielle Centoni, Jen Stevenson, Dina Avila, and McGraw Wolfman
Eater
Wine, Spirits, and other Beverages
“There Are Almost No Black People Brewing Craft Beer. Here’s Why.”
Dave Infante
Thrillist
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award
“A Health Food Restaurant so Cool It Will Have You Happily Eating Seeds,” “Revisiting Momofuku Ko, After the Revolution,” “Polo Bar Review: Ralph Lauren Corrals the Fashionable Herd”
Tejal Rao
Bloomberg Pursuits
MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
“Pork Life”
Todd Kliman
Lucky Peach
Publication of the Year
Lucky Peach
