As far as awards seasons go, one can’t complain too much about this year’s various “Best Restaurants” awards over the past week or two. First, noma shocked the world by displacing El Bulli as the “#1 restaurant” in the world. It is a more than deserving winner; and better than El Bulli. When the world dries up, the fish are gone, and northern Denmark is the last bastion of untainted wilderness, noma might very well be the most coveted reservation in the world. The rest of the list is hit or miss, mostly miss (where is L’Arpege?), but we can delight in its #1 pick.

noma crew by foodsnob (one of their best customers)
Last night, Sean Brock won the James Beard best chef for the Southeast. He, too, is more than deserving and congratulations are in order. My meal at McCrady’s, two years ago, was impressive and insightful, a chef maturing and finding his own style. Here was a guy who had been infatuated with El Bulli molecular techniques but applied a Southern sensibility to them. And then he totally went off the map by creating his own bio-dynamic garden, and raising pigs. It’s like El Bulli, Blue Hill, and Manresa rolled into one – sprinkled with some Southern goodness. Sean will become a great name in American cooking.
And then David Kinch won best Pacific chef.
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