James Beard Winners

The James Beard Winners were announced last night and some of the New York City winners are:

Outstanding Chef (Nationwide)
Eric Ripert; Le Bernadin

Best Chef, New York City
Marcus Samuelsson; Aquavit

Best New Restaurant (Nationwide)
L'Impero; Scott Conant, chef

Outstanding Wine Service
Jean-Luc Le Du, sommelier; Daniel

Check out photos and winners in the restaurant categories as well as winners in other food-related (journalism, restaurant design) areas.

Gothamist once swooned when seeing the sexy Eric Ripert at Ruby Foo's on the Upper West Side. We did spy him in the kitchen at Le Bernadin, but only swooned when eating the food.

Gothamist enjoys Marcus Samuelsson's delicate and innovative Swedish food, but we especially love stories of him understanding his Ethiopian roots (he was adopted by a Swedish family). We'd love to run into him in a Hell's Kitchen cooking supply store.