During last night's chefs and restaurants portion of the James Beard Awards (i.e., the Grammy Awards of food), New York took home most of the top awards, leaving many Bay Area gastronomes empty-handed. Best New Restaurant went to ABC Kitchen, beating out San Francisco's resplendent Benu. On this side of the coast, Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon in Portland edged out Thomas McNaughton of Flour + Water and Aaron London of Ubuntu to win the Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. The only major Bay Area winner was Michael Tusk of Quince and Cotogna. He beat LA’s Michael Cimarusti, Christopher Kostow of Meadowood, Daniel Patterson of Coi, and Richard Reddington of Redd to nab the Best Chef: Pacific honor. List of winners below: more ›

Before tonight's chef and restaurants awards are handed out at the 2011 James Beard Awards, early technical awards in the non-chef categories (i.e., books, broadcast, journalism and restaurant design) were bestowed Friday night. A few Bay Area notables were among the winners, including Aidlin Darling Design for Outstanding Restaurant Design at Bar Agricole, Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to Think and Drink Like the World’s Top Wine Professionals by Jordan Mackay and Rajat Parr for Ten Speed Press, and the Chronicle's Jon Bonné and Miriam Morgan for Outstanding Food Section of a General Interest Publication. Congratulations to all the winners! We look forward to brown-nosing you at various food events around town. [Inside Scoop] more ›

The James Beard Foundation announced its final nominees today for their annual awards bestowment, set to take place on May 9. As expected a slew of nominees are right here in the Bay Area. A few notables: Jon Bonné (Saveur/Inside Scoop), Michael Chiarello's Bottega cookbook, Daniel Patterson (Coi, Plum), Richard Reddington (Redd), Bar Agricole, Benu, Charles Phan (Slanted Door), and, of course, Gary Danko. more ›

The James Beard Awards (the Junos of cuisine, if you will) were announced yesterday. Although the Bay Area came up a wee bit short -- at least when compared to arty-farty New York City -- we did manage to score a few medallions. Most noteworthy? Timothy Hollingsworth of The French Laundry (Yountville) taking home the Rising Star Chef award, the Bay Area's second straight win. more ›

The James Beard Award pre-nominations (or, "semifinalists") were announced today. In the "Outstanding Chef" category, Charles Phan (The Slanted Door), Michael Minna (Michael Minna), and Gary "Gummy Worm" Danko (Gary Danko) all received hat tips. Flour + Water and Adesso received "Best New Restaurant" nods, and rightfully so. And Christopher Kostow received a "Best Chef: Pacific" nomination, so he's having a red-letter day of the deepest kind right now. more ›

The Oscars of the food world were held yesterday in New York, and among top honorees were San Francisco's Nate Appleman of the restaurants A16 and SPQR, who won Best Rising Star Chef (it was his third nomination and first win... he's still eligible because he's under 30) and Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg (pictured) who won Best Chef, Pacific. Previous winners of the latter award were Craig Stoll of Delfina and Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere. more ›

The nominees come from Bay Area, because we are, inarguably, the best place in the state, if not the entire planet, when it comes to food and dining. Anyway, your nominees are Jeremy Fox of Ubuntu, Loretta Keller of Coco500, David Kinch of Manresa, Douglas Keane of Cyprus, and Daniel Patterson of Coi. Our money is on Loretta Keller of Coco500. But seeing as how we supped on a box sausage Pizza Rolls for lunch, your editor isn't the best judge. The folks over at Eater, however, who know what's what when it comes to fine dining, are having a poll, so you can weigh in on your favorite gastronomic taste maker. As of noon today, Kinch is in the lead. Update: The winner is... Douglas Keane of Cyprus! more ›