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Health & Fitness

Mario Batali and Ted Allen Will Co-Host the James Beard Foundation's 2014 Annual Awards Dinner

Restaurateur Mario Batali has been named as Co-Master of Ceremonies and Co-Gala Chef Chair for the 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards program to take place on Monday, May 5, 2014. He will share the podium with Chopped host and cookbook author Ted Allen.

Since 1990, the James Beard Foundation has recognized the outstanding performers in the culinary world annually. Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. 

The 2014 awards ceremony and gala reception will be held at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City. The event is considered the culinary industry’s most prestigious recognition program.

The final nominees for all award categories will be announced on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. The categories include Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Pastry Chef, Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Service, Outstanding Wine Program, and Rising Star of the Year.

Twenty restaurant and chef categories are involved. Awards will also be given for restaurant design and for special achievement including Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, and America’s Classics.

Candidates vying for Best Chef: Northeast include Eric Gabrynowicz at Restaurant North, Armonk, NY; Gerry Hayden at The North Fork Table & Inn, Southold, NY; Dano Hutnik at Dano's Heuriger on Seneca, Lodi, NY; Guy Reuge at Mirabelle, Stony Brook, NY; Tyler Anderson at Millwright's, Simsbury, CT; and Joel Viehland at Community Table, Washington, CT. 

New York City chefs in the running can be seen by clicking here

About Mario Batali

Batali opened Tarry Lodge in Port Chester in October, 2008 along with partners Joseph Bastianich, Nancy Selzer and chef Andy Nusser, a Westchester County, Hastings-on-Hudson resident and a former chef at Manhattan's famed Babbo.

Batali's accomplishments, achievements and activities include:

  • Associations and ownerships with 26 restaurants
  • Ownership of four restaurants in Las Vegas; the newest being B&B Burger & Beer in The Venetian Hotel & Casino
  • Daily participation on ABC’s daytime food show The Chew
  • Host of a new web series on Dailymotion entitled Feedback Kitchen where he will interview famous musicians, cook dishes inspired by them, and then listen to the artists performing live
  • Author of nine cookbooks
His cookbooks include:
  • Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes (2005)
  • New York Times Bestseller Mario Batali Italian Grill (2007)
  • Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals from My Home to Yours (2011)
Ted Allen is a recipient of two James Beard Awards and the host of a new competition for amateur cooks, America’s Best Cook, debuting in April 2014. 

He was a series regular on Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and a judge on the first four seasons of Bravo’s Top Chef and Food Network’s Iron Chef America. He is the author of two cookbooks, The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes, and In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks. 
Food and beverages served at the May 5 reception will be prepared by top chefs and beverage professionals from across the country. Tickets to attend the awards ceremony and gala reception go on sale on March 18, 2014 and can be purchased at jamesbeard.org/awards or by calling 914-231-6180.

The James Beard Foundation will also hold a Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards Dinner honoring top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food journalists at Gotham Hall in New York City on Friday, May 2, 2014. James Beard Award–winning authors Matt Lee and Ted Lee will be co-hosts.

Tarry Lodge is located at 18 Mill St, Port Chester, NY, (914) 939-3111, www.tarrylodge.com

The James Beard Foundation is at 167 West 12th Street in Manhattan, www.jamesbeard.org

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