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Betting on Beard

Our secret panel of industry insiders predicts this year’s James Beard winners

By Jacqui Gal

Special to Metromix
June 2, 2008

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'Entourage' star Debi Mazar plays ball-breaking flack Shauna (also not one of our judges)

The Publicist
A top dog at one of the city's major firms, this exec currently represents a New York Times three-star restaurant and a fusion joint, among others.

Our PR pro agrees that if Chang were to win Best Chef it would be “a shame,” but with a list of chefs so diverse The Publicist says that “it’s a wash.”

“This award is tricky—Gramercy Tavern and wd-50 in the same breath? It’s like saying Meryl Streep and Lauren Conrad.”

For Outstanding Service, The Publicist agress with The Critic: It’s Danny Meyer, not La Grenouille, who has service “locked down” in this city. “People do not want the formal and stuffy. You go to any Danny Meyer–run restaurant and you find the waitstaff are all very friendly, professional, sophisticated and knowledgeable, and they do not try to ingratiate themselves on a diner.”

The Publicist is sold on the Batali-Bastianich win for Best Restaurateur, too. “They are purveyors of great quality, and Babbo is just a perennial favorite,” our expert says, whereas Jean-Georges is “a sublime chef, but a little dated.”

Nominated for Best New Restaurant, Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia’s Anthos is in with a running chance: “[They] have a great partnership, a successful series of restaurants and they are probably going to open a lot more in the near future.”

“Anthos is great, very Midtown lunch-ey,” The Publicist adds. “It’s not the Spotted Pig, but it was quite delicious when I went.”

As for Outstanding Pastry Chef, our expert is going with Pichet Ong of P*ong: “What he’s doing is really innovative. He’s got a really visionary insight and talent. It’s not the same old, same old. It’s really fun and delicious.”

<—BACK TO THE CRITIC | ON TO THE CHEF—>

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com