James Beard Foundation Awards 2015

The James Beard Awards for 2015 in Chicago have ended with a number of notable mentions from the night.

It was the first time the awards have been held outside of New York as thousands of chefs, journalists and food professionals rocked up to the Lyric Opera house for an event packed with laughs, food, happy chefs and a impromptu blue performance from Alton Brown.

The Rising Star Chef Award, sponsored by S.Pellegrino, went to Jessica Largey from David Kinch’s Manresa restaurant in California. Cool, calm and composed, she said it all felt a little surreal: “I really just wanted too get up there without falling, I work in a kitchen and I really love that so to be in a dress and heels I was like ‘make it up there, make it up there’ so that was my focus and my serious face.” Last year’s Rising Star Chef, Blaine Wetzel, was back again, winning the category of Best Chef in the Northwest.

The Best New Restaurant award went to Bâtard in New York while the Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Baker and Outstanding Pastry Chef awards all went to The Big Apple with Michael Anthony from Gramercy Tavern, Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery and Christina Tosi from Momofuku.

The Outstanding Restaurant award, sponsored by Acqua Panna, was awarded to Blue Hill at Stone Barns and chef Dan Barber.

Below you will find a full list of all this year’s winners.

Best New Restaurant

Bâtard, NYC

Outstanding Baker 

Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NYC

Outstanding Bar Program,

The Violet Hour, Chicago

 Outstanding Chef

Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, NYC

Outstanding Pastry Chef 

Christina Tosi, Momofuku, NYC

 Outstanding Restaurant

Water  Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY

Outstanding Restaurateur

 Donnie Madia, One Off Hospitality Group, Chicago (Blackbird, Avec, The Publican, and others)

Outstanding Service, Presented by Goose Island Beer Company

 The Barn at Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN

Outstanding Wine Program

 A16, San Francisco

Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional,

Rajat Parr, Mina Group, San Francisco

Rising Star Chef of the Year

 Jessica Largey, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA

Best Chef: Great Lakes 

Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic  

Spike Gjerde, Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore

Best Chef: Midwest 

Gerard Craft, Niche, Clayton, MO

Best Chef: Northeast 

Barry Maiden, Hungry Mother, Cambridge, MA

Best Chef: Northwest 

Blaine Wetzel, The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Lummi Island, WA

Best Chef: NYC 

Mark Ladner, Del Posto

Best Chef: South 

Alon Shaya, Domenica, New Orleans

Best Chef: Southeast

 Jason Stanhope, FIG, Charleston, SC

Best Chef: Southwest 

Aaron Franklin, Franklin Barbecue, Austin

Best Chef: West

 Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, State Bird Provisions, San Francisco

2015 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Awards 

75 Seats and Under (For the best restaurant design or renovation in North America since January 1, 2012) 

Design Firm: Bureau of Architecture and Design 

Designers: James Gorski and Tom Nahabedian 

Project: Brindille, Chicago

76 Seats and Over (For the best restaurant design or renovation in North America since January 1, 2012) 

Design Firm: SOMA 

Designers: Michel Abboud

 Project: Workshop Kitchen + Bar, Palm Springs, CA

2015 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics, Presented by Brand USA 

Archie’s Waeside, Le Mars, IA Owner: Robert Rand    Beaumont Inn, Harrodsburg, KY Owners: Elizabeth and Dixon Dedman, Helen and Chuck Dedman   Guelaguetza, Los Angeles Owners: The Lopez Family   Sally Bell’s Kitchen, Richmond, VA Owners: Martha Crowe Jones and Scott Jones   Sevilla Restaurant, NYC Owners: Jose Lloves and Bienvenido Alvarez

 2015 James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America  

Allan Benton

Pork Producer and Purveyor

Madisonville, TN

Dale DeGroff

Mixologist

NYC

Wylie Dufresne

Chef and Restaurateur

NYC

Nathalie Dupree

Cookbook Author and Television Personality