Can someone say "butchered'? New York chefs and restaurateurs made a killing at the 2009 James Beard Awards, sweeping all the top categories including Outstanding Chef (Blue Hill's Dan Barber), Outstanding Restaurant (Jean Georges), Outstanding Restaurateur (Drew Nieporent) and Best New Restaurant (Momofuku Ko). The culinary world's top honors, held again this year at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, also feted well-deserving pros like Babbo vet (and seven-time nominee) Gina DePalma for Outstanding Pastry Chef, Le Bernardin super-sommelier Aldo Sohm for Outstanding Wine Service, and the crew at Daniel for Outstanding Service.
The toques shed their chef's whites for black ties and little black dresses, but pink was the dominant color of the evening—literally: The gala's theme was "Women in Food," and the place was decked out all in pink, from the signage to the decor, to toast the industry's female chefs and mixologists. Appropriately, Lidia Bastianich served as the gala's chair, and the event featured grub from chefs like April Bloomfield and Michelle Bernstein (who apparently survived an 11th-hour pots-and-pans crisis with the help of A Voce's Missy Robbins--more on that later).
We hung out backstage and caught the chefs at their booziest best. Here's how it all went down.
4:46 p.m. The calm before the storm. Guests haven't arrived yet, and the chefs cooking for the gala are calmly prepping their food in the lobby and upstairs. We gingerly approach The Spotted Pig's April Bloomfield, who looks the most approachable. Turns out, she is! "I'm very proud to make sure this event is full of women, and to cook some great food," she says. Whose food did she enjoy the most in the last year? "You've put me on the spot!" she laughs. "Probably Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park."
5:13 p.m. Annisa's Anita Lo, who'll also be serving at the gala, has just arrived. It's her second time cooking at the Beards. She's making a steak tartare this year in a Korean anchovy broth. Does she ever get nervous cooking for the food world's A-list? "I've tasted my broth a gazillion times, but [today] I maybe tasted it more times that I normally do."
5:17 p.m. Previous Beard winner Michelle Bernstein, of Michy's in Miami, is having a bit of a, uh, situation prepping her sea urchin sandwiches. "The rental company's late with my panini presses," she says. "The pot didn't get here from the rental company, so I can't heat my soup. So I went to Missy [Robbins] from A Voce, whom I love, and she brought me some of her fanciest pans. So she'll definitely kill me if I don't give them back to her!"
5:33 p.m. Guests are now starting to flood into the theater, including the gala's chair, Lidia Bastianich. "I think it's very important," she says of this year's awards, which come at precarious time for the restaurant industry. "Celebrating our hard work, making it ever more present—it just will energize. This should should give them a little push."
5:41 p.m. Corton's Paul Liebrandt arrives—he and partner Drew Nieporent are up for Best New Restaurant. "Six months into it, it's really nice," he says of the effusive reviews. "Does he feel vindicated for his temporary sojourn away from spotlight, pre-Corton?. "I didn't go anywhere, as you probably read in the New York Times last week," he clarifies. "I was waiting for the space to be built, so I was in the city. I didn't go on hiatus anywhere."
5:59 p.m. And lookee here: We've got Drew Nieporent himself. "The truth is, I was a little nervous because I had Montrachet there for 21 years," he says of his decision to turn the space into Corton. "But we've done a lot of good things. The proof is in the pudding—[Paul Liebrandt] is that good. Wish me luck!"
6:00 p.m. Jose Andres is a multiple nominee tonight, but he's pulling for someone else to win for Outstanding Chef: "I am rooting for Tom Colicchio because he¹s been around forever. He¹s one of the most important faces in the culinary world in this country and it goes beyond his participation in 'Top Chef.'"
6:03 p.m. Butter's Alex Guarnaschelli, elegant and understated in a black satin dress and ornate necklace, is nervous. She's presenting tonight. Nervous, you say? "Yeah, you gotta wear a nice outfit, you gotta have your makeup and your hair in place. We're gonna go to Bar Boulud after, and then we're probably gonna go home and take off all this uncomfortable clothing and order a cheeseburger."
6:18 p.m. We finally head to the press room, just before the show begins. Emeril, Cat Cora and Stanley Tucci are co-hosts. Natch, the show is already running late. It's gonna be a long night. Last year's Rising Star winner, Cafe Boulud's Gavin Kaysen, is waiting there to present this year's Rising Star award, whose nominees, notably, don't include a single New York chef. "Yeah, that's interesting, right? No New York chef. But you know, that's good—it gives every other chef in the country the thought that you don't have to be in New York to get it. And that's important."
6:24 p.m. Ted Allen, cookbook author and all-purpose TV personality was on hand in the press room to provide some colorful commentary. "I'm always hoping someone will trip over their gown or say something really filthy. But I'm going blue tonight. I'm drinking Hendrick¹s gin and...[spills drink on random guy¹s ass]...shit." As for Ted hitting up any of the after-parties? "Nah. Maybe if I was more of a cokehead."
Photo by Melissa Hom
