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, including two other Mesa Grills, one in Las Vegas and another in the Bahamas. more ›

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 a living until he hit the big time. He started a catering company and the rest, as they say, is history, but she noted that he would have been pretty excited to be up on that stage. more ›

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 Rising Star Chef of the Year), and cut chemist Will Goldfarb of Room 4 Dessert (for Outstanding Pastry Chef). Three other nominees from San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago round out the Rising Star Chefs category; Goldfarb faces competition from four other nominees in the pastry category, including Michael Laskonis of Le Bernadin. more ›

Bouchon by Thomas Keller (Artisan, 2004) more ›

- Waterford Wedgwood Outstanding Restauranteur Award: Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group more ›

Other Nominees: more ›

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