Meet Your Beard Nominees: Monica Eng and Phil Vettel
The James Beard Awards, the putative Oscars of the food world, are being held next Monday in New York City. We rounded up some of the Chicago nominees and asked them to share with us their thoughts on the awards, their work, and how they'll celebrate if they win. We're running their answers throughout the week.
Up first: Monica Eng and Phil Vettel, both from the Tribune. Eng is nominated for her article “Morality Bites: Mustering Some Sympathy for the Bedeviled Ham and Beef”, and is also nominated together with Vettel for their article “Big Night. Big Mystery: Why Did Michael Carlson Vanish the Day After Serving Dinner to the Greatest Chefs in the World?".
Congratulations on your nomination! On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you?
Monica: I am really excited and honored by my nominations. Not sure I can put a number on it but it’s a nice feeling, especially in these journalistic times that don’t bring a lot of joy.
Phil: It was probably a 7, 7.5 when I found out that Monica and I had our story nominated. That was very cool.
On running into your heroes in the bathroom, and more — after the jump!
What's your take on the whole Beard awards experience?
Monica: The media and chef awards are two fun nights and an opportunity to catch up with folks whose stuff you read all the time. But here you’re not reading them in the bathroom your RUNNING INTO THEM in the bathroom while they’re fixing their hair and you’re like, “Oh man, you’re Andrea Ngyuen. I love your stuff in Saveur.” Plus, there’s so much lovely food at the events and the after parties. But it makes you wish you’d worn your eating pants rather than that damn tight cocktail dress.
Phil: I’ve never been to the Beard Awards. I had to cancel this year, because my wife is having major surgery this week and won’t be sufficiently recovered in time for me to attend. I had to cancel last year because I caught a nasty bug, so there’s something about me and the Beard Awards that may not be meant to coincide.
Who do you think is your biggest competition in your category?
Monica: All of the other articles nominated are terrific. I’m glad I had a chance to read them. They were informative and touching and intimidating, for sure.
Phil: It’s a ridiculous cliché to say it’s an honor just being nominated, but seriously, to be in the top three in any category is an achievement, given how many people enter the awards. Monica and I are up against stories from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and there’s no shame in losing to either; but beyond that, I have no idea how to handicap our chances. It’s easier for me to handicap the chef awards, because it’s pretty much the same voters year after year, and you can get a sense of how they tend to vote.
If you win, how are you going to celebrate?
Monica: If we win for the Schwa piece, I will celebrate by calling Phil, who’s going to be back in Chicago, and tell him all about it . And if I win for the meat piece I will thank all the animals who were killed in the making of the story. I’ll also thank my kids who put up with their mom’s crazy plan to have us get in touch with our meat and watch our dinner die. Then I will go out for a nice late dinner and stroll with my wonderful boyfriend who’s graciously coming out to New York with me for the awards.
Phil: If I win, I’ll find out Sunday night (probably via a Monica text) and perhaps I’ll crack open a bottle of champagne. Tom Sietsema is a friend, so if he wins I’ll buy him a drink next time I see him. I don’t know the other reporter, so she’s on her own.
Do you think there's anyone (in Chicago or elsewhere) who deserves recognition for their culinary efforts, in any category, who the Beards haven't acknowledged? Want to give them a shoutout?
Monica: There are a zillion folks in Chicago who should get a shout out for their food writing and cooking but don’t. Too many to name but all the food writers (staff and freelance) at Time Out, Metromix.com, Chicago Magazine, Hungry.com, The Sun Times, LTHForum, Local Beet, Sky Full of Bacon, The Chicago Reader, Emily Nunn’s Cook the Wolf etc. They do so much with their (mostly) tiny budgets, that I’m always amazed.
Phil: I’m on the Beard Restaurant and Chef committee, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on those whom the Beards have failed to recognize. I will say, however, that sometimes when a chef or restaurant is “ignored,” it’s actually an eligibility issue. Example: A chef has to have cooked in a region for three years before he/she can be considered for Best Chef of that region; thus, Phillip Foss is not yet eligible for Best Chef Great Lakes. So the Beards haven’t ignored him yet. I can say that I’ll be rooting for Rich Melman to win the Outstanding Restaurateur award; he’s been a finalist every year that the award has been offered (it’s a recent addition to the mix) and to me, Melman embodies everything the award should be about.
For more pre-Beard interview goodness, check out our Q&As with Paul Kahan, Spiaggia's Sarah Grueneberg, Mike Sula, Koren Greiveson, and Brian Duncan.
By Mike Gebert on 04/28/2009 at 4:35 PM
By whet moser on 04/28/2009 at 4:12 PM