James Beard Awards nominees 2009

Outstanding Pastry Chef

It was a bittersweet morning for sweet-savory wiz Pichet Ong (pictured), whose West Village spot, P*ong, went out of business the day before he got word of his nomination in this category. Hey, at least he's got a sense of humor about it: "Do you think I should contact someone at the Beard House so they can change the name of the nomination to Batch?" he quips, referring to his next-door bakery, which is still open. "I have to RSVP. Maybe I'll just put it as 'Batch' and they won't notice it!"

He's pretty pyched, though, about his fellow nominees, including Nicole Plue (Redd, in Napa Valley) and Mindy Segal (Mindy's HotChocolate, in Chicago). "They've been supportive," he says. "About a month ago, when I realized I was deep in the shit, Mindy just flew over to help me out. She was a guest chef."

Rounding out this year's nominees: Kamel Guechida, from Joël Robuchon's Vegas outpost, and Babbo's Gina de Palma, nabbing her seventh nom. "Winning would be like a serving of icing on top of a very well-iced cake," says the elated nominee. "When you've been nominated this many times, it's almost a little jarring not to be nominated, cause then that would mean that you're forgotten," she laughs. "It's an affirmation, really. Every year I gotta get a better dress."