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The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize culinary professionals in the United States.[1] The awards recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists each year, and are generally scheduled around James Beard's May birthday.[2]
The foundation also awards annually since 1998 the designation of America's Classic for local independently-owned restaurants that reflect the character of the community.[3]
2020 awards
The 2020 chef and restaurant awards were canceled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The book and media awards were announced online on May 27, 2020.[5] A virtual event was broadcast from Chicago on September 25, 2020.[6]
General Cooking: Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook by Carla Lalli Music (Clarkson Potter)
Health and Special Diets: Gluten-Free Baking at Home: 102 Foolproof Recipes for Delicious Breads, Cakes, Cookies, and More by Jeffrey Larsen (Ten Speed Press)
International: Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa by Yohanis Gebreyesus with Jeff Koehler (Interlink Publishing)
Photography: American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta by Eric Wolfinger (Chronicle Books)
Reference, History, and Scholarship: The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration by Chris Smith (Chelsea Green Publishing)
Restaurant and Professional: The Whole Fish Cookbook: New Ways to Cook, Eat and Think by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant Books)
Single Subject: Pasta Grannies: The Official Cookbook: The Secrets of Italy's Best Home Cooks by Vicky Bennison (Hardie Grant Books)
Vegetable-Focused Cooking: Whole Food Cooking Every Day: Transform the Way You Eat with 250 Vegetarian Recipes Free of Gluten, Dairy, and Refined Sugar by Amy Chaplin (Artisan Books)
Writing: Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer by Bren Smith (Knopf)
Book of the Year: The Whole Fish Cookbook: New Ways to Cook, Eat and Think by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant Books)
Online Video, on Location: Handmade – How Knives Are Made for New York's Best Restaurants; How a Ceramics Master Makes Plates for Michelin-Starred Restaurants, Eater
Outstanding Personality: Roy Choi, Broken Bread with Roy Choi, KCET
Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location: Pati's Mexican Table – Tijuana: Stories from the Border, WETA
Television Program, on Location: Las Crónicas del Taco (Taco Chronicles) – Canasta, Netflix
Visual and Technical Excellence: Chef's Table, Netflix, Adam Bricker, Chloe Weaver, and Will Basanta
Visual Reporting (on TV or Online): Rotten – The Avocado War, Netflix, Christine Haughney, Erin Cauchi, and Gretchen Goetz
Journalism Awards
The 2020 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards were as follows:
Columns: Power Rankings: “The Official Fast Food French Fry Power Rankings”; “The Official Spicy Snack Power Rankings”; “The Official Domestic Beer Power Rankings” by Lucas Kwan Peterson, Los Angeles Times
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award: “Peter Luger Used to Sizzle. Now It Sputters.”; “The 20 Most Delicious Things at Mercado Little Spain”; “Benno, Proudly Out of Step With the Age” by Pete Wells, The New York Times
Dining and Travel: “In Pursuit of the Perfect Pizza” by Matt Goulding, Airbnb Magazine
Feature Reporting : “Value Meal” by Tad Friend, The New Yorker
Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication: The New Yorker
Foodways: “A Real Hot Mess: How Grits Got Weaponized Against Cheating Men” by Cynthia R. Greenlee, MUNCHIES / Food by VICE
Health and Wellness: “How Washington Keeps America Sick and Fat”; “Meet the Silicon Valley Investor Who Wants Washington to Figure Out What You Should Eat” by Catherine Boudreau and Helena Bottemiller Evich, Politico
Home Cooking: "Fry Time" by Nancy Singleton Hachisu, Saveur
Innovative Storytelling: “Food and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” by Gary He, Matt Buchanan, and Meghan McCarron, Eater
Investigative Reporting: “The Man Who Attacked Me Works in Your Kitchen’: Victim of Serial Groper Took Justice into Her Own Hands” by Amy Brittain and Maura Judkis, The Washington Post
Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award: “In Search of Hot Beef”; “Chef Jack Riebel Is in the Fight of His Life”; “Harry Singh on the Perfect Roti, Trinidad, and Life in the Kitchen” by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine
Wine, Spirits, and Other Beverages: “Seltzer Is Over. Mineral Water Is Forever.” by Jordan Michelman, PUNCH
Emerging Voice Award: L.A. Taco
2021 awards
In August 2020, the James Beard Foundation announced that the 2020 awards presentation would be cancelled because of COVID[4] and they will “forgo its traditional Awards presentation in 2021, including the Restaurant and Chef Awards, Media Awards, and Restaurant Design Awards. We will not be accepting recommendations or submissions. We will be working with the Awards Committee and Subcommittees to overhaul the policies and procedures for the Awards.”[11]
2022 awards
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Best International Cookbook: In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean, by Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen[13][14]
Vegetable-Focused Cooking: The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma's Kitchen by Joanne Lee Molinaro (Clarkson Potter)[15]
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Book Awards
Vegetable-Focused Cooking: The Vegan Chinese Kitchen: Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition: A Cookbook by Hannah Che (Clarkson Potter)[21]
Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year Awards
Humanitarian of the Year Award: Olivia Watkins and Karen Washington, co-founders of the Black Farmer Fund.
Leadership Award
Jim Embry, Founder of Sustainable Communities Network, Slow Food USA, and Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance
Valerie Horn, Board Chair for Community Agricultural Nutritional Enterprises (CANE Kitchen), Cowan Community Center, and City of Whitesburg Farmers Market
Savonala "Savi" Horne, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, Land Loss Prevention Project