Frasca Food And Wine In Boulder Takes James Beard Prize For Outstanding Service
CHICAGO (CBS4) - For the second year in a row, Colorado has a major James Beard Award winner. Frasca Food and Wine of Boulder took the prize for outstanding service on Monday night.
The 29th annual James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of the food world. Since 1990, the nonprofit James Beard Foundation, named after "the father of American cuisine," has been honoring outstanding names in the food and beverage industry. There is no cash reward, but a win -- or even a nomination -- can substantially increase the buzz for business.
Master sommelier Bobby Stuckey, the restaurant's co-owner, told the crowd in Chicago that he has prized taking care of his guests since the restaurant opened on Pearl Street in 2004.
"I have one favor I'd like to the Beard Foundation. Next year can we change the name of the award to the 'hospitality award' because when I see some of my chefs ... (they) give great hospitality each night in our restaurant," Stuckey said. "And I think our industry -- it's not the front of the house or the back of the house, it's the whole house. And that's what hospitality is all about -- it's not what we do to somebody, it's how we make them feel."
Last year Alex Seidel, chef at Mercantile in Denver's Union Station, won the award for Best Chef: Southwest.
This isn't the first James Beard Award for Frasca, which previously won for Best Chef: Southwest (Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson is Frasca's chef and co-owner) in 2008 and Best Wine Program in 2013.
"It's one of these rare restaurants in the middle of the country that gets lots of national attention," Carlin Karr, Frasca's wine director, told CBS4 at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen last year.
Here's the full list of the remaining winners:
Outstanding Restaurant
Zahav (Philadelphia)
Outstanding Chef
Ashley Christensen, Poole's Diner (Raleigh)
Best New Restaurant
Frenchette (New York)
Outstanding Baker
Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread (Chicago)
Outstanding Bar Program
Bar Agricole (San Francisco)
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Kelly Fields, Willa Jean (New Orleans)
Outstanding Restaurateur
Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, Boka Restaurant Group (Chicago)
Outstanding Wine Program
Benu (San Francisco)
Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer
Rob Tod, Allagash Brewing Company (Portland, Maine)
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Kwame Onwuachi, Kith and Kin (Washington)
Best Chef: Great Lakes
Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute (Chicago)
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic
Tom Cunanan, Bad Saint (Washington)
Best Chef: Midwest
Ann Kim, Young Joni (Minneapolis)
Best Chef: New York City
Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, Via Carota (Manhattan)
Best Chef: Northeast
Tony Messina, Uni (Boston)
Best Chef: Northwest
Brady Williams, Canlis (Seattle)
Best Chef: South
Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar (Oxford, Mississippi)
Best Chef: Southeast
Mashama Bailey, The Grey (Savannah, Georgia)
Best Chef: Southwest
Charleen Badman, FnB (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Best Chef: West
Michael Cimarusti, Providence (Los Angeles)
LINK: jamesbeard.org
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