FROM THE DESK OF: South Carolina Well Represented at 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards
By: Taft Matney
I’ve had people come up to me and ask, “What are those James Beard Awards you keep talking about?”
To which I quickly reply, “Have a seat, and let me tell you. They are the World Series and the Super Bowl. They are the Stanley Cup. They are the Kentucky Derby. They are Wimbledon. They are the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Tonys. They are all of those things and more rolled up in one to celebrate the culinary world.”
I may have overstated it just a little, but the James Beard Foundation Awards celebrate the best of the best in culinary creativity, and it’s a celebration that almost always finds South Carolina in contention to win. For somebody who loves food and the possibilities that come with creativity in the kitchen, those are exciting awards to watch.
Chef Craig Deihl of Cypress in Charleston (who is being profiled this month in CRESCENT) was among the finalists for “Best Chef: Southeast.” He came close to winning, but in a year where the competition was tighter than most, he was edged out in a tie by Chef Hugh Acheson who owns Five and Ten in Athens, GA and Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta.
Our state has some amazingly creative chefs who are either from here, moved here, or who lived here at some point in their journey. South Carolina represents at the James Beard Awards.
Our friend Ted Lee and his brother Matt won Cookbook of the Year in 2007, and the past three winners for “Best Chef: Southeast” came South Carolina in the forms of Sean Brock at Husk, Mike Lata of FIG, and Robert Stehling from Hominy Grill.
Chef Deihl almost won, but since he didn’t, what does it mean for the state’s standings with the James Beard Awards?
It means nothing, and we can still congratulate our own.
You see, Chef Acheson spent part of his childhood living in Clemson. He’s one of us…by way of Canada and Georgia.
So, congratulations from CRESCENT, Chef Acheson. Not only did you tie for Best Chef: Southeast, your book A NEW TURN IN THE SOUTH: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen took home top prize in the “American Cooking” category (EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s a visually amazing book.)
Five and Ten may be just down the road from the South Carolina/Georgia state line, but we still claim you.
We also want to congratulate South Carolina’s other nominees including finalist Craig Deihl and semifinalists The Macintosh in Charleston for Best New Restaurant, Sean Brock of McCrady’s for Outstanding Chef, and for Best Chef: Southeast, Jeremiah Bacon of The Macintosh and Ken Vedrinski of Trattoria Lucca in Charleston. You and so many others are great reminders of why we have so much to brag about on South Carolina’s culinary scene.
