Accolades: Philly, Big on Long List, Short on Short List at James Beard
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Lots of love for the Vetri group.
Our fair town repped really well on the James Beard Award semifinalist list announced last month. Today after the first round of voting, the nominees (usually top five in each category) were announced in Chicago, and our multitudes of homeboys and homegirls have been whittled down to a pithy few with a strong showing by la Famiglia di Vetri.
Brad Spence of Amis will move forward as a nominee for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, an award his MMA sparring partners, Jeff Michaud and Marc Vetri, have both won already. Two DC-area chefs, Cathal Armstrong (Eve in Alexandria) and Vikram Sunderam (two Rasikas in the Capital), and a pair of Baltimoreans, Cindy Wolf (Charleston) and Spike Gjerde (Woodberry Kitchen, which I have eaten at twice and LOVE) round out the finalists for Mid-Altantic.
Vetri (the restaurant) cracks the top five n the Outstanding Service category.
Vetri (the man) moves forward in Outstanding Chef.
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head gets nominated again for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional, while Josh Otto and David Whipple get the nod in Outstanding Restaurant Design for Tria Taproom. That was fun and unexpected.
You can see the full list of nominees here. The winners will be announced at Awards on Monday, May 5th in New York. Best of luck to our local nominees.
