James Beard Foundation Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. The James Beard Foundation Awards have been likened to the Academy Awards of the food world due to its prestige and recognition.
The awards are voted on by more than 600 culinary professionals, including previous award winners. Recipients receive a medallion etched with the image of James Beard and a certificate from the foundation.
Awards ceremonies
The James Beard Foundation Award was officially established in 1990 through a merger with Who's Who of American Cooking and French's Food and Beverage Book Awards from Cook's Magazine. In addition to the chef, restaurant, and book awards, journalism awards were added in 1993, which expanded to broadcast media in 1994, and restaurant design awards were first given in 1995.The first award ceremony took place in 1991, with ceremonies following every year until 2020, when the chef and restaurant awards were canceled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the book and media awards were announced online on May 27, 2020. A virtual event was broadcast from Chicago on September 25, 2020. In August 2020, the James Beard Foundation announced that no awards for a 2020 ceremony would be given. Award ceremonies fully resumed in 2022.
The award ceremonies are usually scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awards are presented at a dinner in New York City; the chef and restaurant awards were also presented in New York until 2015, when the foundation's annual gala moved to Chicago. Chicago will continue to host the Awards until 2027.
Changes
In 2018, the James Beard Foundation changed the award's rules to be more inclusive, to fight race and gender imbalances in the industry. Changes include judges reflecting the demographics of the United States, retiring the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America awards, adding leadership awards which focus on social justice issues, in addition to waiving some media entry fees.Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America
The "Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America" was an award that was given from 1991-2018. It was presented to members of the food and beverage industry who have been "identified by his or her peers as having displayed remarkable talent and achievement." The Who's Who awards were voted on by past honorees, with a ballot of 20 candidates distributed to the entire Who's Who group each year.The honors were initially awarded by Cook's Magazine, which inaugurated the award in 1984 but ceased publication in 1990. The award was administered by the James Beard Foundation from 1990 to 2018 and presented at the annual gala. The foundation decided to retire the awards after 2018, citing a new commitment to inclusion. Including the inductees from the 1980s, the final Who's Who list included nearly 300 individuals.