"awards" news and stories

Hey, Stella!: You made it into the 2010 Fine Dining Hall of Fame from Nation's Restaurant News. Joining Stella -- Times-Picayune critic Brett Anderson's favorite upscale dining spot in New Orleans -- are Chicago's perennial winner-of-awards, Alinea (best restaurant in America, according to Gourmet, in 2006), with Grant Achatz (above) named Outstanding Chef of 2008 by the James Beard Foundation); Melisse, Josiah Citrin's seminal French dining room in Santa Monica; and Thomas Keller's New York Haute spot, Per Se.

Hey, Lidia, you got an award, too. Lidia Bastianich, that is -- host of TV's Lidia's Italy and owner of New York's Felidia restaurant, was honored as a Fine Dining Legend by the magazine.

Once again, longtime restaurateur Mildred Pierce walked away with nothing, making her the Susan Lucci of the resto biz.

This October 9, two major forces in the food world will be honored in Iceland with a $50,000 award from Yoko Ono -- Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Food Rules, among other books, and Barbara Kowalcyk, who became a major campaigner for food safety after her son died following an E. coli infection in 2001 (you may remember her from Food, Inc.).

The Lennon Ono Grant for Peace, awarded biannually, was created in 2002 to keep Lennon's peaceful spirit and "dedication to human rights" alive, Telegraph UK reports.

Other recipients of the grant are Josh Fox, writer-director of Gasland (a film on natural gas drilling), and Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, who, more recently, has written about her time in Gaza.

The ceremony in Iceland will also commemorate what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band is set to rock out that evening and there will be a lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower Memorial.

The Fine Chocolate Industry Association has honored seven chocolate makers and chocolate companies at its first ever Recognition of Excellence Ceremony.

Winners included the late Dr. Robert Steinberg, co-founder of Sharffen Berger Chocolate, for Innovation in Fine Chocolate Products, Fran Bigelow of Fran's Chocolates for Outstanding Fine Chocolatier; North America (Obama is apparently a big fan of her stuff; I'm obsessed with her salted caramels), Alexander Morozoff, publisher of Cocoaroma magazine for Outstanding Fine Chocolate Literature (a worthy new genre, I think), Gary Guittard of Guittard Chocolate and E. Guittard for Lifetime Achievement, Valrhona for Outstanding Fine Chocolate Maker/Manufacturer; Europe (food writer and Iron Chef America judge Jeffrey Steingarten never travels without several bars of Valrhona's bittersweet), Norman Love of Norman Love Confections for Innovation in Fine Chocolate Presentation (check out his rainbow-colored Black chocolate collection), and Robert Linxe founder of La Maison du Chocolat for Outstanding Fine Chocolatier; Europe.

I wonder what they serve at the awards banquet?

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Rishi is putting Milwaukee on the world tea map

Rishi took home seven first place awards at the recent World Tea Expo. They are definitely doing something right, and I personally recommend their Jade Cloud tea.

Cup of tea may ease memory problems

It turns out that the flavinoids in tea may actually help ease symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases, and there seems to the possibility that flavinoids in tea may help repair the damage, not just stop it.

A test in the art of gimhae style tea bowls

Teaware geeks will enjoy this write up by MattCha about Korean style gimhae tea bowls, complete with a brief history of this teaware style and several pictures of some very nice bowls.

32 Gongfu Tea Tables

This is a great article on gongfu tea tables, with in-depth comparisons that you really won't find anywhere else. It's very cool of the author to share all the info collected while on his own quest for hte perfect gongfu tea table. Bookmark this one if you ever want to get into gongfu tea preparation!

Finalists for the James Beard Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in the food industry, were announced on Monday. Awards are given in a number of categories, including Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, and Rising Star Chef of the Year, Cookbook of the Year, and Outstanding Service Award.

Here are a few highlights:

Nominees for Outstanding Restaurant: Boulevard and The Slanted Door in San Francisco, Campanile in Los Angeles, and Gramercy Tavern and Jean Georges in New York.

Nominees for Outstanding Chef: Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago, Jose Andres of Minibar in Washington, DC, Dan Barber of Blue Hill in New York, Suzanne Goin of Lucques in Los Angeles, and Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Alabama.

For a full list see the James Beard Foundation's website.

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