Philly Talents Brings Home James Beard Awards

The James Beard Awards have been called, by turns, the Oscars or the Super Bowl of food. The Awards, presented by the James Beard Foundation (named for the eponymous cookbook author and culinary teacher) celebrate the best restaurants, chefs, cookbooks, and other food professionals in the United States. Over 600 culinary professionals vote on the awards, which are given out at a ceremony held the first weekend in May. At the 2017 awards ceremony, which just passed, Philadelphia was well-represented. The City of Brotherly Love is proud of its restaurant scene, and the awards are just further evidence that the pride has merit.

Several Philadelphia-based eateries and restaurateurs brought home prestigious James Beard Awards.

Zahav, an eatery in Society Hill, was nominated for three awards. Chef Michael Solomonov, an Israeli native, won one of them. The Outstanding Chef winner told CBS Local that he was proud to accept his award on Israeli Independence Day. He also credited his coworkers for helping to create the excellence that merited the award: “I’m surrounded by hardworking and dedicated people that make me laugh, cry and are supportive no matter how great or how terrible things are going, and this award is for them.” Solomonov also thanked his Philadelphia patrons, including “the people that have never been able to pronounce our restaurant properly.”

Winning Outstanding Restaurateur was  Stephen Starr, whose contributions to the Philadelphia food scene include Buddakan, Barclay Prime and El Vez. Starr was quoted as saying that he had waited a long time for such an award and was extremely grateful for his employees as well. Starr Restaurants employs over 5,000 people.

The James Beard award for Best Mid-Atlantic Chef went to Greg Vernick, the face behind Vernick Food & Drink in Center City. Another familiar face, Rich Landau of Vedge, was a finalist for that award. In what seems to be a recurring theme, Vernick said that he was grateful for the support of his coworkers, and that he “couldn’t have dreamed up a better group of people to work next to every single day.”