The James Beard Media and Cookbook awards were held at Espace on 42nd Street and 12th Avenue on Sunday May 2, 2010, a beautiful new venue which could seat 500 guests in one massive room. Projections were on the wall and the table settings reflected the blue lights sparkling. The French Culinary Institute's pastry text book The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts which I had helped Chef Tina Casaceli work on the photo shoots several times in 2008, was nominated. It was an enormous honor for me to be a guest of Dorothy Cann Hamilton, the founder of my school The French Culinary Institute.
We were seated at the best table in the room, directly under the podium. I was seated with teachers and friends from FCI; Dorothy, Nils Noren the Vice President of Culinary Arts, Judith Choate author of the text book, Chef instructors Kir Rodriguez, Joseph Jae Kim, Jurgen David, Melanie Miller from the marketing department, Christina Wang Director of Continuing Education and my mentor and Director of the Pastry Department Chef Tina Casaceli.
The evening centered on the awards with an added benefit of a stellar dinner created by previous James Beard award winning chefs. We started our dinner with Poached Asparagus with Perfect Blonde Vinaigrette created by Chef Gerald Hirigoyen from Piperade and Bocadillos in San Francisco. The event was hosted by Kelly Choi of Top Chef Masters and Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods. Luckily our book was in the category of Cooking from a Professional Point of View and was announced before the second course. Our competition was Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant by James Walt and Momofuku by David Chang (a FCI graduate no less). I said a little prayer and crossed my fingers. "How exciting would it be to win?" And we did win!
Dorothy and Judith accepted the award and it was truly a testament to all the hard work of everyone involved. Working on the photo shoots for the book had been the learning experience of a lifetime for me and now a James Beard Award to boast about to boot! I must say my decision to attend The French Culinary Institute twelve years ago was the best decision of my life. I love what I do. I love my school and I love my continuing association with it.
The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the other courses; Second Course Redfish Courtbouillon with Brown Shrimp and Blue Crab Pearls by John Besh from New Orleans, Third Course Braised Short Ribs with Baked Ricotta, Pine Nuts, Black Olives and Crumbled Feta by Suzanne Goin of Lucques in Los Angeles and dessert White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Morello Cherries and Cherry Sorbet by Karen Demasco of Locanda Verde in NY.
The table conversation was entertaining and Dorothy has a wealth of knowledge about the food industry. The most interesting tid bit of information she shared with us was that nominee Judith Jones for her book The Pleasures of Cooking for One, who was Julia Child's editor among many others, was also the editor who brought The Diary of Anne Frank to the world after many European editors had turned it down.
The evening will be forever one of the most memorable of my life. I even got to share my taxi home with Natalie Dupree.
The photo comes from the James Beard Foundation's website.
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