Chefs Collaborative Members Honored By Prestigious Culinary Organizations

Members Receive 20 Nominations from James Beard Foundation and International Association of Culinary Professionals

Chefs Collaborative is proud to announce that eleven James Beard Foundation and nine International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) award nominations have been bestowed on its members this year! Both distinguished organizations confer their awards annually on chefs, restaurateurs and other culinary professionals for exceptional achievement in their fields.

Chefs Collaborative board member Rick Bayless, chef/owner of Chicago's Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, has been recognized with a James Beard Foundation KitchenAid Book Award nomination for his much praised Mexican Everyday, as well as two IACP Awards of Excellence nominations. Long-term Collaborative member (and former board member) Suzanne Goin has also been recognized by both organizations in categories across the board for both her restaurant and her new cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Education members New England Culinary Institute in Vermont and New York's Institute of Culinary Education are IACP Vocational Cooking School Award finalists.

"Our members source local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients because they know such choices significantly enhance the flavors and quality of the dishes they work so hard to create, and the lives of those who work hard to produce them," says Jennifer Hall, executive director of Chefs Collaborative, a nationwide non-profit organization of chefs, producers and the greater culinary community, who promote the use of local and sustainable ingredients in our country's restaurants and institutions. "It's an honor to have our chefs' efforts in promoting this gastronomic philosophy celebrated by the greater culinary community and by such respected institutions as the James Beard Foundation and IACP."

A list of Chefs Collaborative nominees follows. Best of luck to our members!

Chefs Collaborative James Beard Foundation Nominees
For the complete list of nominees, visit www.jamesbeard.org.

KitchenAid Book Awards

Cooking from a Professional Point of View:
Suzanne Goin, Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Food of the Americas:
Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday

Healthy Focus:
Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

Restaurant and Chef Awards

Outstanding Service Award:
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, West Hollywood, Calif.

American Express Best Chef: California
Traci Des Jardins, Jardiniire, San Francisco, Calif.
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, West Hollywood, Calif.

American Express Best Chef: Midwest
Lucia Watson, Lucia's, Minneapolis, Minn.

American Express Best Chef: New York City
Dan Barber, Blue Hill, New York, N.Y.

American Express Best Chef: Northeast
Michael Leviton, Lumihre, West Newton, Mass.

American Express Best Chef: Northwest/Hawaii
Stephanie Pearl Kimmel, Marchi, Eugene, Ore.
Holly Smith, Cafi Juanita, Kirkland, Wash.

Chefs Collaborative IACP Nominees
For the complete list of nominees, visit www.iacp.com

Cookbook Award Finalists

American Category:
Bill Niman, The Niman Ranch Cookbook: from farm to table with America's finest meat

First Book Category: The Julia Child Award sponsored by Sur La Table:
Suzanne Goin, Sunday Supper at Lucques

Health and Special Diet Category:
Michel Nischan, Homegrown Pure and Simple

2006 IACP Awards of Excellence

Consumer Education and Communication Materials Award Finalists:
Bon Appitit Management Company, Palo Alto, Calif.

Cooking Teacher of the Year Finalists:
Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, Chicago, Ill.
Molly Stevens, Williston, Vt.

Entrepreneur Award Finalists:
Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, Chicago, Ill.

Vocational Cooking School Award Finalists