Spoon and Stable leads James Beard award nominations

The James Beard Foundation announced nominations for its 2015 awards — widely considered the Oscars of the food world — and Minnesota is well-represented across the board.

Four-month-old Spoon and Stable (211 N. 1st St., Mpls., www.spoonandstable.com) received a Best New Restaurant nomination. It's the first time a Minnesota restaurant has been nominated in the national category.

The newcomer has another local first: a Beard nomination for Outstanding Restaurant Design. Shea Inc. of Minneapolis was nominated in the 76 Seats and Over category for its work, a conversion of 1906 stable.

"It's a good way to start a morning," said chef/owner Gavin Kaysen shortly after the Tuesday announcement.

Kaysen was alone at home — his wife Linda was taking their children to school — and going through the motions of making breakfast while watching the announcement as it rolled through the foundation's Twitter feed.

"Then my phone started to blow up, and I was literally crying tears of joy as I was thinking of all the people who have worked so hard to get us where we are today," he said. "To me, the amazing part is to see us get two nominations. You just never know how it's going to pan out. I tried not to speculate. I'm just proud of what we do, and that's what's important. But it's history, right? This has never happened in Minneapolis."

Three Minnesotans are nominees in the Best Chef: Midwest category: Paul Berg­lund of the Bachelor Farmer (50 N. 2nd Av., Mpls., www.thebachelorfarmer.com), Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart (920 E. Lake St., Mpls., www.saltytart.com) and Lenny Russo of Heartland Restaurant (289 E. 5th St., St. Paul, www.heartlandrestaurant.com). Winners will be announced in Chicago on May 4.

In media categories, nominees include Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods," in TV Program on Location; the Perennial Plate, created by Minneapolitans Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine, in Video Webcast on Location, and "DeRusha Eats" by Jason DeRusha of WCCO-TV, in TV Segment. Media winners will be announced in New York City on April 24.