The Academy

The Taste Tastys Academy is comprised of influential members of food and drink community from around the country. Academy members vote in two rounds of voting: they vote submissions into nominees, and nominees into winners. Submissions for all awards categories are open to the public. 

The Winners & Nominees

Check out who made the cut to be a nominee in the 2017 Tasty Awards — and discover the winners annouced at the live awards show!

RESTAURANT & CHEF AWARDS

New Chef: East

• Camille Becerra, De Maria (New York)
• Camille Cogswell, Zahav (Philadelphia)
• Jonah Reider, Pith (New York)
• Daniel Rose, Le Coucou (New York)
  WINNER: Greg Baxtrom, Olmsted (Brooklyn)

New Chef: South

• Brad Kilgore, Alter (Miami)
• Ryan Lachaine, Riel (Houston)
• Rebecca Wilcomb, Herbsaint (New Orleans)
• Justin Yu, Better Luck Tomorrow (Houston)
  WINNER: Nina Compton, Compère Lapin (New Orleans)

New Chef: West

• Peter Cho, Han Oak (Portland)
• Edouardo Jordan, Salare (Seattle)
• Johnny Lee, Side Chick (California)
• Pretti Mistry, Navi Kitchen, Juhu Beach Club (San Francisco)
  WINNER: Sara Kramer & Sarah Hymanson, Kismet (LA)

New Chef: North

• Michael Gallina, Vicia (St. Louis)
• Sarah Grueneberg, Monteverde (Chicago)
• David Posey, Elske (Chicago)
• Jason Vincent, Giant (Chicago)
  WINNER: Ann Kim, Young Joni (Minneapolis)

Outstanding Chef

• Dan Barber, Blue Hill (New York)
• Roy Choi and Dan Patterson (Oakland)
• Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn (San Francisco)
• Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad (New. York)
  WINNER: Alice Waters, Chez Panisse (Berkeley)

New Restaurant: East

• ATLA (New York)
• Juliet (Boston)
• Nina June (Rockport, ME)
• Res Ipsa (Philadelphia)
  WINNER: Lilia (Brooklyn)

New Restaurant: South

• Bastion (Nashville)
• Kemuri Tatsu-Ya (Austin)
• McCrady's Tavern (Charleston)
• Q by Peter Chang (Bethesda, MD)
  WINNER: Pineapple and Pearls (Washington, DC)

New Restaurant: West

• Destroyer (Los Angeles)
• Felix (Los Angeles)
• In Situ (San Francisco)
• Tusk (Portland)
  WINNER: JuneBaby (Seattle)

New Restaurant: North

• Grand Cafe (Minneapolis)
• Lady of the House (Detroit)
• Mi Tocaya Antojería (Chicago)
• Young Joni (Minneapolis) 
  WINNER: Elske (Chicago)

OUTSTANDING Restaurant

• Blackbird (Chicago))
• Del Posto (New York)
• Manresa (Los Gatos, CA)
• Providence (Los Angeles)
  WINNER: Blue Hill at Stone Barns (New York

 
Pastry Chef

• Roger Gural, Arcade Bakery (New York)
• Ghaya Oliveira, Daniel (New York)
• Zak Stern, Zak the Baker (Miami)
• Fabian von Hauske, Contra (New York)
  WINNER: Elisabeth Prueitt, Tartine (San Francisco)

Bar Program

• Columbia Room (Washington, D.C.)
• Lost Lake (Chicago)
• Midnight Rambler (Dallas)
• Nitecap (New York)
  WINNER: Trick Dog (San Francisco)

Service

• Aska (Brooklyn)
• Been (San Francisco)
• Le Coucou (New York)
• The Grill (New York)
  WINNER: Alinea (Chicago)

MEDIA AWARDS

Cookbook

• Candy is Magic by Jami Curl
• On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox & Noah Galuten
• Salad For President: A Cookbook Inspired by Artists by Julia Sherman
• Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, With Recipes by Ronni Lundy
  WINNER: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat

Food Literature Book

• Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
• Never Out of Season: How Having the Food We Want When We Want It Threatens Our Food Supply and Our Future by Rob Dunn
• Potlikker Papers by John T. Edge
• Wine. All The Time by Marissa Ross
  WINNER: Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America by Michael Ruhlman

BEVERAGE BOOK

• A Proper Drink by Robert Simonson
• Shake. Stir. Sip.: More Than 50 Effortless Cocktails Made in Equal
• The Dirty Guide to Wine: Following Flavor from Ground to Glass by Alice Feiring
• Where Bartenders Drink by Adrienne Stillman
  WINNER: Meehan's Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan

Food television show

• Dead Set On Life
• Driven by Food
• Huang's World
• Samurai Gourmet
  WINNER: Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown

Web video or series

• Byron Talbott
• Cooking in America
• Hot Ones (First We Feast)
• Our Heart Within Us (The Perennial Plate)
  WINNER: The Food Lab

Photographer

• Clare Barboza (clarebarboza.com)
• Christopher Boffoli (bigappetites.net)
• Chris Court (chriscourt.com)
• Maciek Jasik (maciekjasik.com)
  WINNER: Evan Sung (evansung.com) 

Radio Show or Podcast

• Bite - Tom Philpott, Kiera Butler, and Maddie Oatman for Mother Jones
• Speaking Broadly - Dana Cowin for Heritage Radio
• The Super Amazing Restaurant Show - Alvin Cailan, Nakul & Arjun Mahendro
• The Racist Sandwich - Soleil Ho, Zahir Janmohamed & Juan Diego Ramirez
  WINNER: Good Food - Evan Kleiman for KCRW

Magazine or Zine

• Cherry Bombe
• Gather Journal
• Milk Street Magazine
• The Cleaver Quarterly
  WINNER: Lucky Peach

Online Media Website

• First We Feast (firstwefeast.com)
• Munchies (munchies.tv)
• New York Times Cooking (cooking.nytimes.com)
• The New Food Economy (newfoodeconomy.com)
  WINNER: Eater (eater.com)

Culinary Blog

• Dine x Design, Kristin Guy
• Husbands That Cook, Adam Merrin & Ryan Alvarez
• Two For The Bar, Talia Kleinplatz
• Wild Greens and Sardines, Linda Schneider
  WINNER: The Food Lab on Serious Eats, J. Kenji López-Alt

Magazine / Newspaper article

• "Bernard Baff and the Kosher Killers" by Tove Danovich for Lucky Peach
• "Feeding the prison system: Some inmates buy way around institutional cooking" by Hanna Raskin for The Post and Courier
• "Journey to the Home of Korea's Mother Sauces" by Matt Rodbard for Saveur
• "The Most Exclusive Restaurant in America" by Nick Paumgarten for the New Yorker
  WINNER: "A Day in the Life of a Food Vendor" by Tejal Rao for the New York Times

Restaurant review

• "Founding Fathers review: Zero stars for the mega-popular D.C. eatery" by Tom Sietsema for The Washington Post
• "Is The World Ready For the Austere Beauty of Günter Seeger?" by Bill Addison for Eater
• "The Crushing Disappointment of L'Arpège" by Ryan Sutton for Eater
• "Union Square Cafe Returns, With More Than a Dash of Déja Vu" by Pete Wells for the New York Times
  WINNER: "Trump Grill Could Be the Worst Restaurant in America" by Tina Nguyen for Vanity Fair

INNOVATION AWARDS

Startup

• Beyond Meat 
• Farmer's Fridge
• Habit
• Modern Meadow
  WINNER: Impossible Foods

Non-Profit

• Heritage Radio Network
• Pilot Light
• The Melting Pot Foundation
• The Patachou Foundation
  WINNER: No Kid Hungry

 
Environmental, Agricultural, or Sustainable Innovation

• L.A. Kitchen
• MIT Media Lab Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAg)
• Saltwater Brewery
• Square Roots
  WINNER: Seafood Watch, Monterey Bay Aquarium

 
Academic Institution or Organization

• Brigaid
• The Culinary Institute of America
• Journee
• SF Cooking School
  WINNER: Southern Foodways Alliance

The After-Party

The Tastys is followed by an after party celebrating the winners, nominees and (of course) the future of taste. Food, drink and music to match the incredible talent and imagination recognized at the Taste Talks Food & Drink Awards make it a party unlike any other.

Together they run a consulting company called You and Me Cocktails. Some of their projects include Soho Grand Hotel, The Saguaro Hotel Palm Springs, The Roxy Hotel, MADE Hotel, Paul’s Baby Grand, Dear Bushwick

The Winning Menu