James Beard Food Awards

Food & film, great idea for a food awards theme. While the show had some highs....lifetime achievement awards for Cecilia Chiang which was fascinating and the tribute to Prince's fried chicken in Nashville was also memorable. The lows included the JBF logo in back of the stage being quite hard to see and the script so small at the bottom of the screen you could not see the location of the restaurants up for awards. Also, did not see Like Water For Chocolate food scenes(among the best in film) in the mélange- hello production! Where were the best chef nominations for some groundbreaking Brooklyn restaurants like Battersby or revival of old school Italian classics at Carbone's. On the love side, also, loved that Danny Bouien won as rising chef of Mission Chinese Food. As usual the show went on too long and they would not start food service till 9, silly. Food highlights, sushi and sake by Todd English, Crispy foie gras duck cigars, with a coconut laced shooter by Douglas Rodriguez (loved the Scarface suit). My new food obsession is Mindy Segal's(Mindy's Hot Chocolate, Chicago) brown sugar Tcho chocolate chip cupcake with vanilla bean and malted milk liquid center(pictured). This explosion in your mouth with light brown sugary frosting ranks as one of the best things Frannyonthego has ever eaten. BRAVO! GO!