Today in our ongoing James Beard Awards interview series, we caught up with a long-time Beard Awards veteran and judge, who is also a nominee. Nancy Oakes won the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best Chef in California in 2001, and her restaurant, Boulevard, has been nominated tons of times in various categories over the years.
This year, Boulevard is up for the Outstanding Restaurant award, a field that includes the East Coast Portland’s Fore Street, Birmingham, Ala.’s Highlands Bar & Grill, and New York’s Babbo and Jean Georges. Hear what Oakes has to say about the competition, the Beard Awards scene, and the Best Chef: Pacific category, after the jump.
Where are you most excited to eat when you are in New York?
I’m very interested in Corton, so we have reservations there.
One thing is that a lot of our obligations are later, and it’s always been possible to eat late in New York, but that’s changed. Not everybody’s staying open as late.
Are there any regular spots where all the nominees get together each time?
I think there was a time that that was Balthazar. It’s open for extended times. And let’s face it, all cooks are ready for steak tartare and French fries.
Then there was the rise of the temple of the cocktail, so there are a couple of those that occurred. But you can pretty much count on running into a lot of people at Balthazar.
Who do you think is your biggest competition in your Beard category? Why?
Well, New York is a strong voting block. I think the biggest competition is the two New York chefs (Mario Batali and Jean-Georges Vongerichten). I think it’s whether they divide the New York vote and leave room for Nancy, basically. Both of them are very famous, way beyond the borders of their restaurant.
Who do you like in the Best Chef: Pacific category?
That’s tough. Each one of them has a certain style and all of them have a different style, so it’s not like you’re looking at two chefs who do remotely the same thing. Their food and the way their restaurants are are so dynamically different. It’s the apples and oranges thing.
I’ll be honest with you, it was very hard to vote. And I’m not telling you who I voted for.
