When I was growing up, the Web was not the source of instant restaurant guidance that it is today. Without smart phones or Google, there were only a limited number of ways to gauge whether restaurants were worth a visit.
Beyond word of mouth, they were primarily guidebooks.
One was the AAA Guide, published for different regions of the U.S. and Canada. New York had the user-generated Zagat guide. France had the Guide Michelin, and the Gault Millau guides were useful and witty.
In the 1990s, the James Beard Awards came along, named for the writer and culinary arbiter. They were divided into two main categories - food and beverage, and media.
Coinciding with the emergence of the Food Network, plus social media, the Beards became so high profile that people called them the Academy Awards of food.
Chosen by panels of journalists and food professionals, even becoming a Beard finalist could elevate a restaurant or a chef’s profile, at a time when people were competing ruthlessly for national attention.
And needless to say, that attracted business, especially as foodies punched their tickets by vying to eat in as many nationally known places as possible.
A Deeply Flawed Institution
But the Beards had some obvious flaws. Through the 2010s, few went to women or people of color. Chefs could be nominated for multiple years in a row and never win. Certain cities dominated regional competitions, giving the appearance of an edge to places with multiple nominees.
Meanwhile, some chefs and restaurant groups won repeatedly, creating an impression of unfairness, especially when it came to lower-profile or distant places.
There wasn’t really room in the awards for spots that were a little quirky, or whose food was deeply personal, rather than predictable.
“When I first opened Carrollton Market (his most recent New Orleans restaurant), I honestly believed it was a meritocracy — that the folks providing the finest product reaped the most rewards,” says Jason Goodenough, who closed his highly regarded New Orleans restaurant, Carrollton Market, this past January. “NOPE!”
Despite being named Restaurant of the Year by New Orleans Magazine and other print acclaim, his restaurant was never even a Beards semi-finalist. Goodenough himself has never won a Beard award, despite a career that spans his training at the Culinary Institute of American, time with Daniel Boulud in New York and multiple invitations to cook at the Beard House in New York.
Others also have been shut out. Zingerman’s itself has never won a Beard, although former Roadhouse chef Alex Young did in 2011. Over the years, it snagged a couple of finalist spots, and Miss Kim’s Ji-Hye Kim got a semi-finalist nomination as Best Chef Great Lakes for 2020, only to see the awards put on hiatus.
Last year, the Beards were temporarily halted for a much needed overhaul. The pandemic made normal judging impossible, restaurants were closing right and left, and apparently another reason was because there were no Black winners, at a time when Black Lives Matter protests were resounding across the country.
The new approach
Now, the plan is to resume the awards in 2022. This past week, new standards have been announced, new mentorships created and the awards seem anxious for the culinary world to believe they’re serious about reform.
According to a press release, the awards “set a path for a more equitable and transparent program.” Among the changes:
The definition of an award recipient is now someone “both innovative and consistent, through storytelling on a plate; in food media; and in the broader food system. They champion a culture of good food anchored in talent, make efforts to promote racial and gender equity, sustainability, and a work culture where all can thrive — what we call Good Food for Good™.” (Note the little trademark symbol, which indicates you’ll be seeing that phrase often.)
● Reduced Term Limits: Awards committee and subcommittee term limits will decrease from three three-year terms to two two-year terms.
● Annual DEI Training (that’s diversity, equity and inclusion) will be required and provided for judges.
Renaming the “rising star chef” category to “emerging chef, and eliminating the age limit, recognizing that “success can be achieved at any age.”
Does it matter?
It’s a crossroads for the awards themselves, and the way diners view awards.
In the past, a Beard certainly mattered to the numerous winners who made their medals a key part of their identity. Visit winners’ dining rooms and shops around the country, and you’ll often see their awards framed and hanging on the wall.
But some entire cities have been shut out. There are plenty of talented people like Jason and places like Zingerman’s who haven’t won, though, and they are proof that the awards themselves are not the only way to judge a good restaurant or food business.
In the 18 months of the pandemic, more than 100,000 restaurants closed, including Beard winners. Those that stayed open shared some things in common, such as loyal customers, long-term staff, and a willingness to innovate.
In Ann Arbor, nine restaurants open for more than 50 years got through the turmoil, hardly unscathed, but certainly survivors. There is not a Beard winner among that group.
Too, when you start looking through past Beard winners, you begin to notice names of industry figures who were singled out in the #MeToo movement.
Search for “Mario Batali,” for instance, and you get a long list of his medals and nominations, both for his restaurants and his television appearances. Inadvertently, the Beards rewarded bad behavior, and it has never stripped those implicated of their awards.
Going forward, the Beards plan to present different faces to the public.
Chef Kwame Onwauchi, who drew warm reviews for his book, Notes From A Black Chef, will host the 2022 awards. There will be watch parties put on by a diverse group of chefs around the country. People viewing a live stream from home can order a $155 party kit. I’ll probably be keeping track on Twitter, where past Beard Awards commentary has been hilarious.
Things won’t change for the Beard Awards overnight. It will take more than silver polish to remove the tarnish on those Beard medals, as the saying goes. There’s a real danger its prestige may have vanished with all those restaurant employees who left the industry.
And with chefs so busy managing what’s left of their business, they may decide the schmoozing and networking required to win isn’t worth it. If they survived Covid, they’ve already won a medal, after all.
Gearing up for the Great British Bake Off
It’s back! British viewers of GBBO see new episodes beginning Tuesday night, and the series resumes Friday on Netflix.
To get you in the right mindset for the show’s return, here are a couple of Bake Off related extras you might enjoy.
Bake With A Legend offers classes with former Bake Off contestants, both in person, if you’re in England, and virtually,
The 14 participants include familiar faces from the BBC series, like Jane Beedle, Andrew Smyth, and Howard Middleton, plus others you’ll recognize if you are a long-time viewer.
Sign up for their mailing list, because they occasionally offer free programs and discounts.
The Bake Down podcast includes Jane and Howard as regular commentators, offering an expert review of the latest episode. As with the classes, other former bakers pop up as guests.
The Bake Down airs weekly during the season, and episodes post to podcast platforms on Wednesdays before we get to see the show here in the States. If you don’t want spoilers, wait to listen until after you watch. The comments also make more sense if you’ve seen the show.
Meanwhile, in Bake Off related news, John Whaite, the winner of Season 3, is competing on Strictly Come Dancing, the British show that is the inspiration for Dancing With The Stars. He is part of the first all-male couple to take part in the show.
Season 3 was shown as Season 5 on PBS. It was filmed in 2013, before the other seasons that aired in the U.S., which confused many viewers who wondered why Paul Hollywood’s silver hair was suddenly dark. John looks a bit different in his ballroom clothes than he did in the tent.
Next Sunday, I’ll begin sharing my takeaways from the new season of Bake Off. I hope you’ll add yours in Comments.
Pawpaws are peeking out early
Last year, I traveled north of Lansing, Mich. to visit Nash Nurseries, which has become a leading source of pawpaws in the Midwest.
Pawpaws grow abundantly across the United States from the upper Midwest south, with different regions of the country claiming them as their own. They set their buds in the fall, then bear purple flowers in May.
The fruit is a little bit like a mango, only custardy rather than smooth. Pawpaws have big black seeds that you can eat, with a slight taste of chocolate. (Not everyone agrees the seeds are edible, so don’t go overboard.)
The fruit, nestled in the trees’ long green leaves, grows over the summer and usually ripens in late September or early October. The 2020 season was a couple of weeks late because of an unexpected spring freeze.
But this year, pawpaws are early, due to a warm June and very wet July. You can already buy them in Ann Arbor, and Zingerman’s Creamery is whipping up its pawpaw gelato.
Bill Nash ships some pawpaw products from his beautiful farm, and you can find more information in my story for The Takeout. It has Bill’s recipe for an amazing pawpaw creme brulee.
Corruption spreads across Detroit
When you think about cities where corruption reigns, a few come immediately to mind. Chicago, of course, Miami, with all its vices, and the deep underbelly of New York.
But right now, Detroit is dealing with a two-track wave of corruption that touches public officials as well as the once-mighty United Auto Workers.
The Detroit News estimates that more than 100 labor leaders, police officers, politicians and others have been caught up in investigations that simply keep mounting.
In my latest Washington Post column, I look at how the murkiness threatens the image improvement the city has experienced since it emerged from the nation’s biggest municipal bankruptcy
Keeping up with CulinaryWoman
Last week, I took on the duties of editor for A2View, a weekly newsletter published by the Ann Arbor Observer. It’s a quick news round up of items of interest to our tree filled community.
Subscriptions are free, and you can sign up here. If you know young people attending Michigan, or people who are alums of the university, please recommend it to them.
And if you have any local news tips, or events you believe merit coverage, send them to a2view@aaobserver.com.
You can reach me at CulinaryWoman at gmail dot common. Find us @culinarywoman on TikTok and Twitter. I’m on Instagram @michelinemaynard.
Stay safe, keep wearing a mask, and see you next Sunday.
Glad to see the Beard Awards starting the process to reform itself. I hope their efforts prove to be effective.