Oscars, Grammies, Foodies
It’s awards season, and not just in the entertainment industry. The food universe also dishes up platefuls of accolades this time of year, and The Eater is delighted to report that a number of locals continue to remind the rest of the world that we eat pretty good around here.
Early last month, Seedlings Project held its inaugural Good Food Awards in San Francisco in a ceremony hosted by Alice Waters. Among those receiving the honors were Carrboro’s own Farmer’s Daughter and Carrboro Coffee Roasters.
April McGreger, an actual farmer’s daughter whose preserves and picklings are a regular feature at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, took the honors in the picklings category for Farmer’s Daughter Brand Spicy Green Tomatoes and in the preserves category for her Bourbon’d Figs.
Carrboro Coffee Roasters won a seal of approval in the coffee category for El Aguacate, which is grown by Honduran farmer Sosa Calderon.
Representing CCR at the Good Food Awards was Open Eye Café and Caffé Driade barista Michael Harwood, who in mid-February also represented the company at the Southeast Regional Barista competition in Atlanta, where he took top honors.
Harwood, who gave props to CCR’s chief roaster, Michael Leatherwood, in his victory announcement, will move on to the national competition later this spring, where he’ll have a shot at representing the U.S. in the international competition.
And the nominees are
Nominations for the annual James Beard Foundation Awards are out, and once again our little corner of food paradise is well represented – very well represented.
Magnolia Grill’s Ben Barker, a previous winner, is among those nominated for Outstanding Chef and the Grill is up for Outstanding Restaurant.
Of the 20 nominees for Best Chef: Southeast, eight are from North Carolina, including Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, Scott Crawford of Herons in Cary, John Fleer of Canyon Kitchen in Cashiers, Scott Howell of Nana’s and Shane Ingram of Four Square in Durham, Andrea Reusing of Lantern and Chip Smith of Bonne Soirée in Chapel Hill, Keith Rhodes of Catch in Wilmington and Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto in Hillsborough.