The 2013 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists

The James Beard Foundation's 2013 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists

 

They're here! Click to see if your favorite chef or restaurant is one of our 2013 semifinalists, which were chosen from more than 44,000 entries submitted through our online open call.

 

We'll announce the Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, along with the nominees in every other award category, on Monday, March 18, at the historic Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. As always, you'll be able to follow the announcement live on Twitter.

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America's Classic Update: Waterman’s Beach Lobster

An update on Waterman’s Beach Lobster, a James Beard Foundation America's Classic Award winner

 

For more than 15 years, the James Beard Foundation has honored some of the country’s most beloved regional restaurants with its America’s Classic Award. These establishments, often family-owned, are treasured for their quality food, local character, and lasting appeal.

 

In anticipation of our announcement of the 2013 inductees, we’re unlocking the America’s Classics vault and checking in on some past winners. First up: South Thomaston, Maine’s Waterman’s Beach Lobster, which received the award in 2001.

 

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Sisters-in-law Sandy Manahan and Lorri Cousens continue to oversee this temple to Maine’s unofficial state crustacean. In fact, very little about this classic shoreline shack has changed. Out-of-state visitors and locals still make the summertime pilgrimage to Mussel Ridge Channel in... Read more >

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On the Menu: Week of February 17

Plating in the James Beard House kitchen

 

Here's what's coming up at the James Beard House:

 

Wednesday, February 20, 12:00 P.M.

Beard on Books: JBF Award Winner Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart

In their new cookbook, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, JBF Award winner Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart celebrate the “mother cuisine of America,” offering their expert guidance on classic Southern cuisine and traditions. The heartfelt book transports the reader to a simpler time: when comforting, homemade food was an indispensable part of daily life.

 

Wednesday, February 20, 7:00 P.M.

Savoring New Mexico

One of the Southwest’s pioneering chefs, Mark Kiffin was a Santa Fe institution long before he reinvented the Compound, a historic adob... Read more >

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Cooking Up Change Competition is Underway

The James Beard Foundation is the official culinary partner of Cooking Up Change

 

As we reported a couple of months ago, we’ve joined Cooking Up Change—a nationwide high school competition to improve school lunch—as its official culinary partner for the second year in a row. Backed by the Chicago-based Healthy Schools Campaign, the competition unfolds over the course of six contests in different cities, where student-led teams craft delicious school lunches within the real-life constraints of limited ingredient lists and tight prep times. Finalists from each city advance to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C. in May of 2013.

 

At the most recent qualifier at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, West Adams Preparatory High School students Esther V., Jose L., and Maribel S. took the win, thanks to their... Read more >

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Eat This Word: Absinthe

absinthe

 

WHAT? Louche libation. A distilled, mildly anise-flavored spirit infused with herbs, absinthe was mythologized by countless late 19th- and early 20th-century writers and artists—Degas, Van Gogh, Wilde, and Hemingway among them. Often called "the green fairy," absinthe came to be considered as dangerous as it was popular and was banned in the United States and several European countries by 1915.

 

Described at the time by a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as "one of the worst enemies of man," the seriously strong spirit, which is made with wormwood, a plant with purported hallucinogenic properties, was blamed for several high-profile cases of violence (including Van Gogh's ear-cutting incident).

 

These days absinthe's mind-altering effects have been widely disproven. In 2004 the U.S. ban was lifted, and absinthe moved off the black market and onto the shelves. The liquor, which has an alcohol content of up to 75%, is traditionally served in a glass topped... Read more >

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Valentine's Day Recipe: Chocolate Budino with Candied Hazelnuts and Grapefruit

Recipe for Chocolate Budino with Candied Hazelnuts and Grapefruit, adpated by the James Beard Foundation

 

Not a fan of cramped tables and half-baked prix fixe menus on Valentine's Day? We don't blame you, especially if you're game to make this elegant Italian pudding from Bob Truitt, who oversees the dessert program at Marea and other restaurants in Michael White's Altamarea Group. The budino alone is wonderful, but accessorizing it with the Campari-scented grapefruit peel and toasted, sugar-slicked hazelnuts makes it worthy of a white tablecloth.

 

Get the recipe here.

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