Will the fifth time be the charm for Bluestem's Colby Garrelts? The finalists for the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards were announced yesterday, and Garrelts was one of the five finalists in the category of Best Chef: Midwest.
Garrelts is up against Justin Aprahamian of Sanford in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Isaac Becker of 122 Eatery in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Tory Miller of L'Etoile of Madison, Wisconsin; and Lenny Russo, of Heartland in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jonathan Justus, the chef and co-owner of Justus Drugstore, was a semifinalist for the same award.
Garrelts is actually the only chef or nominee from the entire state of Missouri to be named as a finalist. A trio of St. Louis chefs were nominated as semifinalists in the Best Chef: Midwest category, Gerard Craft of Niche, Kevin Nashan of the Sidney Street Cafe, and Kevin Willmann of Farmhaus. Wine Director Glenn Bardgett of Annie Gunn's in Chesterfield, Missouri, was also not named a finalist in the outstanding wine service category.
Kansas City chefs have been recognized by the James Beard Foundation Awards in the
past. Chefs Michael Smith and Debbie Gold were honored in 1999 with the
Best Chef: Midwest award for their time as the chef team at the
American. In 2007, chef Celina Tio, owner of Julian, was named the Best
Chef: Midwest.
You can see a complete list of finalists here. The winners will be announced at an awards gala on May 9.
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Hey Colby, when I had to use the john at the Beard House last week, I ended up at a urinal right next to Ruhlman. He told me to tell you that if you approach him again this year after the ceremony he's going to "break your face". He looks like he's been doing Zoomba or Pilates or some crap, so be careful.
Seriously, I hope he gets it this time. It's like he's the Susan Lucci of the James Beard Awards at this point! :D
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