Despite the pre-hype generated a few weeks ago, about the “semi-finalists” for this year’s Beard Awards, (nevermind that in the 15 or so years I’ve been covering them, they’ve never had a “semi-finalist” stage), the official nominations were released this morning. ‚ The awards are akin to the Oscars of the food world. The complete list is here, on the official JBF site, but since many of you will want to see the Chicago area contenders, I’ve provided a list below with the complete category, as well as the local scribe/chef/artisan in bold. Congrats to all of the nominees, including our own Eight Forty-Eight!!!!!!

WRITING & LITERATURE:

• Save the Deli‚ by David Sax
• The Seasons on Henry’s Farm: A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm by Terra Brockman
• Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart

AUDIO WEBCAST OR RADIO SHOW:

• Eight Forty-Eight -‚  Hosts: Alison Cuddy, Richard Steele Area: Chicago, Online Producer: Aurora Aguilar
• The Kojo Nnamdi Show - Host: Kojo Nnamdi Area: Washington, D.C., Online Producers: Tara Boyle, Michael Martinez, Ingalisa Schrobsdorff, Brendan Sweeney, Diane Vogel
• The Splendid Table - Host: Lynne Rossetto Kasper Area: National, Online Producers: Jennifer Russell, Sally Swift

TV FOOD PERSONALITY

• Andrew Zimmern -‚ Show: Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern Network: The Travel Channel
• Alton Brown - Show: Good Eats Network: Food Network
• Rick Bayless - Show: Mexico One Plate at a Time Network: PBS

TELEVISION SEGMENT

• ABC News Nightline - Host: John Berman Network: ABC Producer: Sarah Rosenberg
• Chronicle - Hosts: Anthony Everett, Mary Richardson Network: WCVB-TV Boston Producers: Chris Stirling, Stan Leven
• ABC 7 News Friday Night Special: Hungry Hound - Host: Steve Dolinsky, Producer Badriyyah Waheed

MULTIMEDIA FOOD FEATURE

• Antoinette Bruno, Amanda McDougall, Jonathan J. Proville Starchefs.com “The Art and Economics of Charcuterie, Parts 2, 3, 4”
• Kevin Pang - Chicagotribune.com “The Cheeseburger Show”
• Robb Walsh - Houstonpress.com “Not So Clear Cut”

NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING ABOUT RESTAURANTS AND/OR CHEFS

• Tim Carman - Washington City Paper “How Not to Hire a Chef/The Canning Process”
• Jared Jacang Maher - Westword,‚ “A Hunger to Help”
• Kevin Pang - Chicago Tribune,‚ “Plan D”

NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING

• Sarah DiGregorio - The Village Voice,‚ “Liver and Let Liver”
• Cliff Doerksen - Chicago Reader, “The Real American Pie”
• Mike Sula - Chicago Reader, “The Charcuterie Underground”

REPORTING ON HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT OR NUTRITION

• Monica Eng - Chicago Tribune, “Nacho Lunch? Yes, Every Day”
• Daniel Engber - Slate,‚ “Throwing Out the Wheat”
• Rowan Jacobsen - EatingWell‚ “…Or Not to Bee”

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT GRAPHICS (For the best restaurant graphics executed in North America since January 1, 2007)

• Design Firm: Korn Design,‚ Designers: Javier Cortés, Denise Korn,‚ Melissa Wehrman, Ben Whitla - PROJECT: Mercat a la Planxa, Chicago
• Design Firm: Pandiscio Co. - PROJECT: The Standard Grill, NYC
• Designer: Steven Solomon - PROJECT: Terroir, NYC

OUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF AWARD A CHEF OR BAKER WHO PREPARES DESSERTS, PASTRIES, OR BREADS AND WHO SERVES AS A NATIONAL STANDARD-BEARER FOR EXCELLENCE. CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN PASTRY CHEFS OR BAKERS FOR AT LEAST THE PAST 5 YEARS.

• Amanda Cook -‚ CityZen at Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C.
• Michelle Gayer -‚ Salty Tart Bakery Minneapolis
• Kamel Guechida -‚ Joƒ«l Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
• Nicole Plue -‚ Redd Yountville, CA
• Mindy Segal -‚ Mindy’s HotChocolate Chicago

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT AWARD A RESTAURANT IN THE UNITED STATES THAT SERVES AS A NATIONAL STANDARD-BEARER FOR CONSISTENT QUALITY AND EXCELLENCE IN FOOD, ATMOSPHERE, AND SERVICE. CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN IN OPERATION FOR AT LEAST 10 OR MORE CONSECUTIVE YEARS.

• Babbo - NYC Chef/Owner: Mario Batali Owner: Joseph Bastianich
• Boulevard - San Francisco Chef/Owner: Nancy Oakes Owner: Pat Kuleto
• Daniel - NYC Chef/Owner: Daniel Boulud
• Highlands Bar & Grill - Birmingham, AL Chef/Owner: Frank Stitt Owner: Pardis Stitt
• Spiaggia - Chicago Chef/Partner: Tony Mantuano

OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR AWARD A WORKING RESTAURATEUR WHO SETS HIGH NATIONAL STANDARDS IN RESTAURANT OPERATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS. CANDIDATES MUST NOT HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR A JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION CHEF AWARD IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

• Tom Douglas - Dahlia Bakery, Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s, Lola, Palace Kitchen, Serious Pie (Seattle)
• Pat Kuleto - Boulevard, Epic, Farallon, Jardiniƒ¨re, Martini House, Nick’s Cove & Cottages, and Waterbar (San Francisco)
• Keith McNally - Balthazar, Lucky Strike, Minetta Tavern, Morandi, Pastis, Pravda, and Schiller’s Liquor Bar (NYC)
• Richard Melman - Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (Chicago)
• Stephen Starr - Starr Restaurant Organization (Philadelphia)

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD PRESENTED BY STELLA ARTOIS A RESTAURANT THAT DEMONSTRATES HIGH STANDARDS OF HOSPITALITY AND SERVICE. CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN IN OPERATION FOR AT LEAST THE PAST 5 YEARS.

• Alinea, Chicago - Chef/Owner: Grant Achatz
• Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas - Chef/Owner: Joël Robuchon
• La Grenouille, NYC -‚  Chef/Owner: Charles Masson, Gisèle Masson
• Michael Mina, San Francisco - Chef/Owner: Michael Mina
• Vetri, Philadelphia - Chefs/Owners: Marc Vetri, Jeff Benjamin
• BEST CHEF: GREAT LAKES (IL, IN, MI, OH)
• Michael Carlson - Schwa (Chicago)
• Koren Grieveson - Avec (Chicago)
• Arun Sampanthavivat - Arun’s (Chicago)
• Bruce Sherman - North Pond (Chicago)
• Alex Young - Zingerman’s Roadhouse (Ann Arbor, MI)

2010 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AMERICA’S CLASSICS AWARDS RESTAURANTS WITH TIMELESS APPEAL, BELOVED IN THEIR REGIONS FOR QUALITY FOOD THAT REFLECTS THE CHARACTER OF THEIR COMMUNITY. ESTABLISHMENTS MUST HAVE BEEN IN EXISTENCE AT LEAST 10 YEARS AND BE LOCALLY OWNED.

• Al’s French Frys, 1251 Williston Road, South Burlington, VT Owners: Bill Bissonette and Lee Bissonette
• The Bright Star, 304 19th St. North, Bessemer, AL Owners: Jimmy Kiokos and Nicky Kiokos
• Calumet Fisheries, 3259 E 95th Street, Chicago Owners: The Kotlick and Toll Families
• Gustavus Inn, PO Box 60, Gustavus, AK Owners: JoAnn and David Lesh
• Mary & Tito’s Cafe, 2711 Fourth St. N.W., Albuquerque, NM Owners: Mary Gonzales and Antoinette Knight