There’s an old adage in reporting that every story is a local story. Find the angle that fits your readership and go from there.
The media certainly did that with the release on Wednesday of a list of more than 400 semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards.
The Star Tribune congratulated the 16 “Twin Citians” from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area who are up for awards. That’s a jump from 11 last year, although three of this year’s semifinalists are on the same line: Mike Brown, Bob Gerken and James Winberg of Travail Kitchen and Amusements in Robbinsdale, Minn., are up for best chef in the Midwest. They would share the award if they won.
The Chicago Tribune touted semifinalists from the Windy City area, which will host the awards for the first time. As usual, Chicago has a lot of semifinalists — 28 all told — including the teams of Dave and Megan Miller of Baker Miller Bakery & Millhouse for Outstanding Baker, and Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz of Boka Restaurant Group for Outstanding Restaurateur. Chicago had 24 semifinalists last year.
Phillymag.com was more economical in its coverage, simply listing semifinalists from the City of Brotherly Love. There are 21 semifinalists, up from 19 last year, including one duo, Andre Chin and Amanda Eap of Artisan Boulanger Patissier.
Eater New York took a similar approach, asking readers: “Thoughts, predictions, outrage?” There apparently wasn’t outrage, just some comments congratulating winners, and one person wishing Katie Rosenhouse from Buttermilk Bakeshop in Brooklyn, N.Y., had made the list.
New York got 48 nominations, including the team of Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli for Best Restaurateur, which is a lot, but the Big Apple is the only city with its own Best Chef category. Other cities are grouped by region, so Chicago is in the Great Lakes, Minneapolis is in the Midwest and Philadelphia is in the Mid-Atlantic.
New York’s semifinalist count is down from 50 last year, despite the addition of three semifinalists in the new category of Outstanding Baker, which goes to people in retail shops. The award for Outstanding Pastry Chef goes to people working in restaurants.
NJ.com got a little more analytical, observing that the list included “the usual (but still delicious) suspects from New Jersey.”
Writer Vicki Hyman noted that Maricel Presilla of Cucharamama in Hoboken, N.J., who won the award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic in 2013, was up for the national award of Chef of the Year for the second year in a row. Hyman also laid claim to Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune, in New York City, because she’s a Jersey native.
InsideScoopSF writer Paolo Lucchesi ecumenically acknowledged that, “Bay Area chefs were represented, thought not as strongly as in years past.”
Actually, I counted about the same number of representatives from the Bay Area, including three teams of two bakers, on this year’s list as last year’s — around 35, depending on how far into Wine Country and Silicon Valley you want to go, including all the major national categories.
The big news, as far as I was concerned, was all the fresh faces in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category, which goes to chefs age 30 or younger. Just four names from the 2014 list of 25 semifinalists returned this year, compared to 10 last year.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
