'Thrilling, and unexpected': Minnesota chefs recall James Beard award wins

Five Minneapolis chefs are James Beard award winners.

On the eve of the 2017 awards, four of those five local winners recall their Beard experiences and share how winning the coveted Beard award affected their careers.

Four have been named the Best Chef: Midwest. ­(The first was Tim McKee of the former La Belle Vie, in 2009; he was unavailable for comment.) It's one of 10 regional chef honors the James Beard Foundation bestows upon chefs in any kind of dining establishment "who have set new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions." The Beard's definition of Midwest includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

The fifth is Gavin Kaysen. In 2008, when he was cooking at Cafe Boulud in New York City, a 28-year-old Kaysen won the Rising Star of the Year award, which the culinary foundation bestows upon "a chef age 30 or younger who displays an impressive talent and who is likely to make a significant impact on the industry in years to come."

The awards take place at Chicago's Civic Opera House on Monday evening.

Spoon and Stable and Bellecour

Rising Star Chef of the Year, 2008

"The award put me in a circle, in a family, that I didn't know existed. I got invited to events that I probably would have never been invited to if not for the award, and I suspect that a lot of people came to the restaurant because of the award.

"It also gave me an immediate identity, and that's a powerful thing to be given in New York City. I went from working for Daniel Boulud to being Gavin Kaysen of Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud.

"Winning a national award like that also puts pressure on you, immediately. The James Beard award is such a prestigious, well-respected award. It's like a Michelin star. Even if you're not a foodie, you know what that award is. And when you win, it's what gets put in front of your name, you know? From that point on, you'll be referred to as 'James Beard award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen.'

"The medallion is at home, in my office in the basement. I know that we should frame it, but it's a nice thing to show the kids."

Spoon and Stable, 211 N. 1st St., Mpls., 612-224-9850, spoonandstable.com; Bellecour, 739 Lake St. E., Wayzata, 952-444-5200, bellecourrestaurant.com

Best Chef: Midwest, 2010

"I'm grateful that we as a team had that exposure, and that recognition. It's a shared accomplishment. It's something we're proud of, and I'm so happy to be honored by them.

"The award was a great validation that we had a vision for excellence and we were executing it. My biggest challenge with the word 'best' is that there isn't a best. But there are many versions of excellence. Year after year, you see different chefs and styles of cooking that are rewarded at the James Beard awards, and we want that diversity in the food world.

"The Beard's voting system usually gets it right. Whenever I see the list of finalists, I think that every one of them deserves to win. When Tim [McKee] won, we all knew he deserved to win first, and I was so happy. Then to see Isaac and Paul win, that was extraordinary.

"The publicity around the Beard awards is significant. Even getting into the finals every year was a big thing. The Beard Foundation's reputation for identifying people doing good work has had a very positive effect on our business. For us, that all happened during a recession, and we had growth, and one of the reasons of that growth was the exposure from the Beard awards.

Restaurant Alma, 528 University Av. SE., Mpls, 612-379-4909, almampls.com; Brasa, 777 Grand Av., St. Paul, 651-224-1302, and 600 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls., 612-379-3030, brasa.us

112 Eatery, Bar La Grassa and Burch Steak

Best Chef: Midwest, 2011

"It's great to be able to share the credit, even though the award was in my name. The chefs that were close to me at the time — Denny [Leaf-Smith, at 112 Eatery, now at Eastside] and Erik [Sather, at Bar La Grassa, now at Lowry Hill Meats] — they could take credit for winning that award. At the time, 112 and Bar La Grassa were good restaurants largely because of their work.

"Every year I'm so thankful that I'm not thinking about the James Beards. It became kind of a curse. You'd have the preliminaries, and then the finals, and then you go to the show. It was killing me.

"We used to go a few days before, but I didn't have any fun, because I was in a state of panic the whole time. Then I finally got smart and flew in on the day of the awards. That's the year I won, and then we spent three days in New York, and it was really great.

"The medallion is hanging at the 112. We put it up right when we got home. It's the only thing we've ever put up. When I look back on it, the night that I won, it was pretty magical. It's a great memory. I'm not over it yet. It's not like I wake up every morning and think about it, but when I do, it puts a smile on my face."

112 Eatery, 112 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-343-7696, 112eatery.com; Bar La Grassa, 800 Washington Av. N., Mpls., 612-333-3837, barlagrassa.com; Burch Steak, 1933 Colfax Av. S., Mpls., 612-843-1500, burchrestaurant.com

The Bachelor Farmer

Best Chef: Midwest, 2016

"Things have definitely changed as a result of the award. The award has absolutely impacted our reservation book. It's a tangible thing. The restaurant has experienced better sales this year than we did last year. That's been a real boon for us, and it's fun to cook in a restaurant that's busy. I think when people from out of town come here, one of the things they look up is, 'Who is in the James Beard world?' and the Bachelor Farmer is now very much in that conversation.

"I've also had a lot of opportunities come my way because of the award. The coolest thing that happened was being invited to go to the James Beard chef boot camp. It took place in rural Vermont on a kind of resort farm. It was a three-day event that basically trained 15 of us in food advocacy work, which is something that is becoming more of a focus for me. I felt so enriched by the experience, and so inspired by the people who led it and attended it. That was a real blessing for me.

"The medallion is framed and hanging right up at the host desk. I kind of wish it was out of the frame. It would be nice to put it on when I'm feeling down, but I can always look at it. Most of the time I walk by and don't give it a moment's notice. But every once in a while, I'll look at it, and I'm filled with gratitude."