Get a Taste of America’s Culinary History with John Besh, April Bloomfield, and More
The Taste America kick-off celebration at the James Beard House in New York City. Photo: Ken Goodman
On a balmy August evening, a bevy of chefs and food enthusiasts gathered in the backyard of the James Beard House, the brownstone in which Beard, beloved cookbook author and champion of American cuisine, lived. Sipping on rum cocktails and chatting breezily, the crowd had gathered to celebrate the kick-off of this year’s Taste America, a program Beard himself surely would have been proud to take part in.
The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America program, now in its third year, brings together some of the brightest chefs in America to hold dinners and demonstrations in 10 cities across the U.S. over the course of six weeks.
These chefs, known as the “Taste America All-Stars” are chosen based on their ability, reputation, and past involvement with the James Beard Foundation. This year’s lineup of all-stars includes household names like Tyler Florence, April Bloomfield, Rocco DiSpirito, and Mark Ladner; as well as other food world favorites including Jonathan Waxman, Traci Des Jardins, Hugh Acheson, and more.
Chef Alon Shaya and Taste America Honorary All-Star John Besh. (Photo: Ken Goodman.)
Leading this starry chef lineup is this year’s Honorary All-Star John Besh, who is a chef, TV personality, and author of multiple cookbooks including “My New Orleans,” which focuses on the Louisiana culinary culture that he is known for.
“By highlighting what’s special in each of our own regions, we’re really shining a light on the bounty and diversity of American cuisine,” Besh said the night of the Taste America kick-off. Spiffed up in a suit and tie, he reflected on his humbler beginnings cooking in the James Beard House, saying, “As a young chef coming up, you look to the Beard Foundation as an inspiration because it stands for something totally beautiful — perpetuating our food culture across the country and holding everybody up to the highest standard.”
More: New Orleans Chef John Besh Discusses Food’s Role in Rebuilding After Katrina
Besh first got involved with the Beard Foundation nearly two decades ago, and was eager to be involved with the Taste America program when the opportunity arose. “Partly because of this foundation, we have the food scene in America that’s second to none in the world — the most diverse food scene ever in history,” Besh said.
That diversity shines brightest perhaps in New Orleans itself, Besh’s hometown and the site of one of Taste America’s educational weekends this October. “It’s totally a melting pot, if there ever has been. It’s the only indigenous urban cuisine left in America,” Besh said. “We’ve always been known for and proud of our cuisine, so to showcase it through Taste America is an honor.”
With the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina forthcoming, Besh also reflected on how the food culture helped heal the hurting city of New Orleans: “After Katrina, we wanted to make sure that we perpetuated our culture as it’s expressed through food. We wanted to be sure all people — rich, poor, black, white, red, yellow — were participating in that culture and had the opportunity for education, to become a chef or the next rising restauranteur of New Orleans.”
One of Chef Alon Shaya’s dishes for the evening: Hudson Valley foie gras on challah with rose tahini and carob molasses. (Photo: Ken Goodman)
The evening of the kick-off, Besh handed over the keys to the Beard House kitchen to one of his protégés, Alon Shaya, who recently won the Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: South. Shaya’s menu for the evening was full of sample dishes from his two restaurants, Shaya and Dominica, both in New Orleans.
Rather than typical New Orleans fare, the plates that circled around the party were filled with rich Mediterranean creations, including pockets of lamb tartare, crispy falafel, short rib over couscous, bite-sized foie gras on toast, and creamy za’atar-topped hummus.
One of the guests enjoying these dishes was Taste America All-Star April Bloomfield, acclaimed chef and author of “A Girl and Her Pig,” and “A Girl and Her Greens,” who will be preparing a meal for 350 and giving a cooking demonstration at Sur la Table in New Orleans Oct. 9-10.
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Bloomfield, who moved to America in 2003 from the United Kingdom, took her first trip to New Orleans earlier this year and is looking forward to going back and exploring the region in more depth. “I came to America because I wanted to experience and dive into new styles of cuisine,” she said, expressing her newfound fondness for crawfish, a staple of New Orleans cuisine that after recently tasting is considering using in her Taste America dinner menu.
“It’s always such a joy to come here,” Bloomfield said, gesturing around the Beard House backyard. Stopping intermittently to greet friends entering through the door, she added, “It’s kind of like a big family here — a network of amazing, like-minded people.”
All-Stars Art Smith, Mark Ladner, April Bloomfield, Rocco DiSpirito, and John Besh with Foundation President Susan Ungaro and Chef Alon Shaya. (Photo: Ken Goodman)
Leading that network is James Beard Foundation President Susan Ungaro, who looks forward to using the Taste America program to expand the Beard Foundation’s reach beyond New York City and “shine a spotlight on great chefs and restaurants creating interesting food all over the country.”
“James Beard would love this program. He was a pioneer of local, in season ingredients and someone who believed there was a definitive American cuisine,” Ungaro said, speaking over the music from the New Orleans jazz trio that filled the room. “He thought the taste of the city was a wonderful way to understand the people. He felt that by interacting with the vendors, farmers, and chefs was the most authentic way to find out what that place was all about.”
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Beyond the emphasis on community that was mentioned time and time again by Ungaro and others at the gathering, the other cornerstones of the Beard Foundation are education and charity, having distributed throughout their history more than $3.5 million in cash awards and tuition waivers to students in need to pursue their culinary education.
Rocco DiSpirito, another of the 2015 All-Stars, takes the role of educator seriously, and looks forward to using the Taste America program as a means of educating the American public on making healthier choices and cooking meals that are both delicious and beneficial to your well-being.
“What I aim to show people is that you can have healthy and indulgent at the same time,” said Dispirito. “My dinner and demos will be focused on how easy it is to make delicious, satisfying food without the sugar, fat, and sodium,” he said, eager to spread his healthful message to Miami the weekend of September 18-19.
Standing in the living room of James Beard’s house, walls peppered with the portraits of the American culinary figure overlooking the crowd, Besh summed up Taste America’s mission: “The important thing is what it stands for — highlighting the tight-knit community of chefs from coast to coast. Allowing people a taste of what we do through Taste America, and anything we do to perpetuate our amazing food culture is a great thing.”
Taste America’s Tour
Sept. 18-19: Miami
Sept. 25-26: Charleston and Phoenix
Oct. 2-3: Seattle and Minneapolis
Oct. 9-10: Boston and New Orleans
Oct. 23-24: San Francisco and Chicago
Nov. 6-7: Los Angeles
For more information on tickets and event details, visit Taste America’ website.
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