It has been a turbulent year for the James Beard Foundation and its distinguished adoption awards. While the restaurant industry continues to suffer from the combined effects of a pandemic and an economic crisis, the organization has canceled the Chef and Restaurant Awards ceremony for both 2020 and 2021. In a press release, the foundation’s CEO writes that “if anyone considered won or lost in the current tumultuous ecosystem for hospitality does not really feel like the right thing to do. ”Many restaurants and chefs named as finalists for the 2020 awards will not find out if they might have received the coveted recognition.
Although the award ceremony has been canceled, and no winners will be named, a small note was quietly added to the list of nominees on the foundation’s website: “Several nominees have withdrawn their nominations for personal reasons.”
Among those whose names no longer appear are David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, California; as well as Paul Bartolotta of Milwaukee-based Bartolotta Restaurants group; Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus, of the New Orleans Coquette; and Rich Landau of Vedge in Philadelphia.
Some of these chefs, like Kinch, pulled themselves out of consideration to make a point about the current need for a uniform sector, prioritizing the well-being of restaurant workers and small business owners over an individual distinction that now seems inconsistent. Kinch publicly pointed out his absence from the updated list, writing on Instagram that he withdrew his name out of consideration for the Outstanding Chef Award, because “the idea of celebrating achievements – and all that our @Manresarestaurant team has reached – just not feeling well in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, and the devastation it has put on our chosen metier and the industry has been pressing. ”
But the foundation’s choice to categorize all withdrawals as having to do with “personal reasons” seems misleading or, at the very least, too vague, because not all cooks who remove themselves did so with the same motivations.
Reached for comment, Bartolotta, who was a finalist in the Outstanding Restaurateur category, told Eater in an email that he withdrew his name due to consideration due to “anonymous allegations directed at me and the Bartolotta Restaurants organization that were sent to the James Beard Foundation. ”Bartolotta claims that he has not received any detailed information about the allegations, and that“ no complaints have been filed either internally or at any of the agencies outside. ”Despite the two-time James Beard winner and co- owner of a 17-restaurant operation, says a third-party investigation has been launched. “I have decided to withdraw myself and our organization out of consideration for this year’s James Beard Awards,” he says.
Eater reached out to the foundation for comment on allegations regarding the restaurant group Bartolotta, and the representative of the foundation’s PR firm pointed to the idea that the chef withdrew his name for “personal reasons”.
Also among the names mostly absent from an updated list of nominees is that of Jessica Koslow, the owner of Sqirl in Los Angeles, who last month faced rapid backlash and criticism for serving shameful jams, after all thought took credit for other people’s prescriptions, and hid an illegal kitchen from the health department, where their staff worked in potentially unsafe conditions. Koslow sent a letter to the foundation on July 30, requesting that she be removed for the Best Chef: California award, writing that her inclusion would “serve only as a distraction.” She also asked to be removed from a James Beard Foundation voting committee that, earlier this year, selected recipients of the Humanitarian of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Many of the systemic problems faced in the restaurant industry have also been identified within the James Beard Foundation itself. In mid-July, a group of employees of the foundation sent a letter to the team of senior leadership, claiming “differences in pay, inadequate benefits, long hours, and challenging working conditions,” and demanding change. The foundation has in the past been criticized for disproportionate outreach to men and white chefs, and has responded with initiatives aimed at lowering the bar to entry and diversifying prices. But because the foundation works to increase its equity in its task of awarding assignments, it does not appear that everything within the organization feels seen as valued.
While it is not clear how the organization changes internally to meet the requirements of staff, there is a clear awareness that the foundation needs to evaluate the way it is praised, and who receives it. In the same statement announcing the cancellation of the awards for 2020 and 2021, the foundation notes that the awards committee is working with the broader organization and an outside social justice agency to adapt and develop a new process for naming of award recipients. It states that the objectives are to “eliminate all systemic bias, increase the diversity of the pool of candidates, maintain relevance and further promote the Awards with the values of the Foundation of Equality, Equality, Sustainability and excellence for the restaurant sector. “
Eater has reached out for comment to all the other named chefs, and this story will be updated with all new information.
