You will never find Chef Bobby Flay too far away from an ancho chili pepper. Back in 1991, he opened Mesa Grill in New York, his shrine to the Southwestern flavors for which he is now famous around the world. In 1992, Mesa Grill won New York Magazine's Best New Restaurant, and the following year, Flay was given the James Beard Rising Star Chef award. Since then, he has created a mini-empire of six restaurants,......

Maybe it was just the red carpet, but most of the people we spoke to seemed particularly excited about the new digs for the James Beard Foundation Awards, black-tie affair held last night at Avery Fisher Hall to honor some of the country's best chefs, restaurateurs, and culinary professionals. Susan Ungaro, the President of JBF, noted that originally, James Beard had moved to New York to become an opera singer, but had to earn......

Yesterday morning, the nominees for the 2007 James Beard Foundation Awards were announced at the Beard House on West 12th Street. In additional to New York restaurant stalwarts David Waltuck of Chanterelle, Floyd Cardoz of Tabla, and Terrance Brennan of Picholine (which was rebooted in 2006 to impressive reviews, the nominees also include a bumper crop of young chefs including David Chang for Momofuku Ssam Bar, Daniel Humm for Eleven Madison Park (both for......

Bouchon by Thomas Keller (Artisan, 2004) While Thomas Keller's Per Serestaurant won this year's James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant, we know that most New Yorkers will never set foot there. The prices are rather steep, making it a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience for those who do go at all. But Keller does have two cookbooks that give insight into his cooking technique, style, and inspiration. Gothamist decided to try our hand at one......

The James Beard Foundation seems to have gotten past the drama of the past year, and managed to announce its 2005 award winners. Local honorees include: - American Express Best Chef, New York City: Andrew Carmellini, Café Boulud - All-Clad Bakeware Outstanding Pastry Chef: Karen DeMasco, Craft - All-Clad Cookware Outstanding Chef: Mario Batali, Babbo - Ecolab Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional: Joseph Bastianich, Italian Wine Merchants - Illy Best New Restaurant: Per Se -......

The New York restaurant scene is flush with nominations from the James Beard Foundation, the top award in the food world. Mario Batali (Babbo, pictured left), Tom Colicchio (Gramercy Tavern), and Alfred Portale (Gotham Bar & Grill) were all nominated for Outstanding Chef (a national award); Nobu Matsuhisa (Matsuhisa, LA) and Judy Rodgers (Zuni Cafe, San Francisco) are the other two. Chanterelle, Felidia, and La Caravelle were nominated for Outstanding Restaurant (national). New York made......

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......