2010 James Beard Foundation Awards, Part 2 [food porn]
Andy Nusser's beets with goat cheese and black truffles. Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
The more time spent honoring Keith McNally, Tom Colicchio and Luke Skywalker on stage Monday night, the longer new and old food media could press flesh over Perrier Jouet and lap bacon and bourbon-infused caviar off their bare hands once all the blini ran out. Even if the acceptance speeches on screen were audible over shaken cocktails and shared business cards, all the winners' names and choice lines had been tweeted to ubiquity before honorees found their ways through the scrum for a second celebratory glass of champagne.
Throughout the evening the tributes of food and drink piled two stories high in the narrow aisles and corner nooks of Avery Fisher Hall, in spaces impossible to pass through without patting a new or past nominee on the back or squeezing between fans and flacks, were where the night truly came to life. Serpentine swaths of vitello tonnato panini and Eleven Madison Park's tins of salmon mousse sheltering fish and dressed with roe served as synapses for connecting the entire industry. Below, take a gander at how the restaurant world eats when they pull out all the stops. [Warning: Image heavy post.]
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Mark Franz' champagne poached prawns with spicy cucumber salad.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Spago's duck pastrami with pickled rhubarb sandwiched between pretzel wafers.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
The presentation for Kevin Binkley's bacon soup.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Cured sardines with avocado chutney and curry leaf from Foreign Cinema.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Eleven Madison Park's Scottish salmon tartare under a smoked mousse topped with yuzu and trout roe.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Donald Link of Cochon's crawfish remoulade crostini.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Mozza's butterscotch budino with rosemary pine-nut cookies.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Avenues' Alaskin king crab in cucumber consomme beneath a sugar tuile crust.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
John Suley's spring pea custard under wraps.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Ex-Per Se chef Jonathan Benno's vitello tonnato panino.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Ironnori's short rib pastrami on nori brioche.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Marinus Restaurant's diver scallop with dungeness crab.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Perry St. chili crab dumplings.
Photograph: Adam Robb / Eat Me Daily
Coi pastry chef Bill Corbett's roasted white chocolate mousse with cherries.
Red bean pudding and sweet potato cakes provided by the Beijing Tourism Administration.
