"james beard nominees" news and stories

• Eric Ripert Predicts Beard Winners [Grub Street New York]
• Alinea Named the Best Chicago Restaurant, Ever [Eater Chicago]
• Danone Withdraws Yogurt Health Claims [WSJ]
• My Life in Food - What Sam Sifton, the NY Times Restaurant Critic, Eats [Diner's Journal]
• Bolivia Puts the Coke Back in Coca Colla [Fork in the Road]
• Party's over for Tailgaters at Dodgers Stadium [LA Times]

The nation's top chefs and restaurants nominated for the highly coveted James Beard Foundation food and restaurant prizes were announced Monday.

There were five nominees in for the top chef prize, ABC News reported. Nominated this year are: Tom Colicchio of Craft in New York City, Gary Danko of San Francisco's Restaurant Gary Danko, Suzanne Goin of Lucques in Los Angeles, Jose Andres of Minibar in Washington, D.C. and Charles Phan of The Slanted Door in San Francisco.

A few of the best links on the Web this week:

• Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain got themselves a radio show on Martha's Sirius channel, and it sizzles.
• Are you anxious about how much to tip the pizza guy when he rings your bell? Check out this guide.
• From the people that bring you the Food Network, another 24-hour food TV channel is on its way.
• The many wonderful uses for humble coffee filters.
• The James Beard Award semifinalists were announced. Is your favorite chef or restaurant among them?

Got a spare hundred bucks on hand, a delicious dream in your heart and a keyboard at your fingertips? Then hie thee to jamesbeard.org and download entry forms for the 2010 James Beard Foundation's Book, Journalism, Broadcast Media and Design Awards.

Veteran entrants of the Journalism Awards will note that there are a few alterations from previous ballots (full disclosure -- I'm the vice chair of the committee that oversees the Journalism Awards), namely that the Restaurant Review award has been redubbed the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award, the former Newspaper Feature Writing Without Recipes and With Recipes categories have been combined into single category, and there's no requirement for the Writing on Spirits, Wine, or Beer, Food-related Columns, or Reporting on Health, Environment and Nutrition entrants to have ever appeared in print. Online's just fine.

Why the changes? Funny thing - we cracked a window in the Beard House's Peter Kump Boardroom during our last meeting and noticed it was 2009 outside. Oops.

Restaurant devotees also may submit their favorite chefs and restaurant for inclusion in the James Beard Restaurant Awards via a handy online form at jamesbeard.starchefs.com.

[Via: jamesbeard.org]

We'll be live-Twittering tonight's James Beard Media Awards and Monday's Restaurant Awards, so follow along @slashfood. Meanwhile, snack on these links to the nominated articles, recipes, reviews, food sections, sites, blogs and books.

Journalism Awards

For articles published in English in 2008.

Newspaper Feature Writing About Restaurants And/Or Chefs

Monica Eng, Phil Vettel
Chicago Tribune
"Big Night. Big Mystery: Why Did Michael Carlson Vanish the Day After Serving Dinner to the Greatest Chefs in the World?"

Katy McLaughlin
The Wall Street Journal
"Sushi Bullies"

Tom Sietsema
The Washington Post
"Sound Check"

More links to Journalism, Cookbook and Broadcast nominees after the jump.