I was making stock when my phone rang with the Chicago number. The nomination had been an open secret in our industry for a few weeks — someone at the Foundation had called a friend who called a colleague who sent me an email I pretended not to read carefully. But the official call is still something different. I finished reducing the stock. Then I called my mother. Then I told the kitchen.
The James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southeast category is one of the most competitive regions in American dining. The chefs who have held that award represent some of the most important restaurants in the country. I do not say that to perform humility. I say it because it is true, and because it is why the nomination carries weight beyond what any single review can provide. It signals to the industry — to suppliers, to the young cooks who are deciding where to take their careers — that what we are doing here is being noticed at a national level.
What it meant practically was nothing and everything. The kitchen did not change. The menu did not change. Diane did not start pricing the wine list differently, though she had every argument for doing so. What changed was the energy in the room during service. The cooks who were already working as hard as anyone I have seen in this industry found another gear I did not know existed. That is what recognition does when it lands on a team that deserves it — it does not make them comfortable. It makes them hungry. We are still hungry.
