Congratulations to Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen - 2015 James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef - Mid-Atlantic

[DonRocks]

Neither Maryland nor Delaware has ever won the Mid-Atlantic category.

Until tonight. Congratulations to Spike Gjerde - in my opinion, this award is well-deserved. Ironically, I had some tomato sauce just last night that I bought at Parts & Labor fully 18 months ago.

Irony: Three years ago, people (including me) complained that Maricel Presilla got the NYC vote (Cucharamama is between the west exits of the Holland and Lincoln tunnels) - this year, I guarantee it was the absence of DC chefs on the ballot, and the DC judges' votes, that won the award for Spike Gjerde.

[darkstar965]

Very cool for Chef Gjerde and WK! Don, what's your take on the Furstenberg snub? The NYC winner there doesn't have as long a resume but maybe was seen as more innovative? Or, maybe just a function of how the judging does tend to be NY-centric, which you or someone wrote about recently here?

[DonRocks]

Very cool for Chef Gjerde and WK! Don, what's your take on the Furstenberg snub? The NYC winner there doesn't have as long a resume but maybe was seen as more innovative? Or, maybe just a function of how the judging does tend to be NY-centric, which you or someone wrote about recently here?

Mark got to the final 5 in the United States after not having had a bakery for ten years, and after having been open only one year - I see that as an honor; not a snub. However, the awards do tend to be skewed strongly towards New York City, as judges cannot (legally) vote for Mark unless they've had his product before.