It’s a big week on the local food scene, with Charleston Restaurant Week in full swing and last Wednesday’s huge announcement that James Beard has blessed our town once again with two more “Best Chef” semifinalists – one regional and one national!
Chase Collier from Ristorante Abruzzi was named a semifinalist for “Best Chef: Southeast,” which puts him in an elite category of the top 20 chefs in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
And Charleston native William Dissen, now chef-owner of The Market Place Restaurant in Asheville, earned a nod himself as a semifinalist for “Outstanding Chef” in the nation. (That, my friends, means he among the top 20 nominees in ALL the states.) You may remember The Market Place itself was also named a James Beard semifinalist last year in the national “Outstanding Restaurant” category.
I spoke to both chefs just minutes after the Jan. 22 announcement and they were each surprised, to say the least.
“Wow,” Collier said when I asked him if he’d heard the big news yet. “Yeah, I just saw it. Wow. That’s not something I was expecting to happen and I really don’t even know what to say right now.”
He quickly regained his composure, however, graciously thanking his staff, the restaurant’s owners and its many fans as congratulatory notes started pouring in throughout the day.
Dissen’s reaction was much the same, repeating the word “wow” several times when I asked him how it felt to receive another semifinalist designation this year.
“That’s not something I had on my bingo card when I woke up today, I can tell you that,” he said.
“I’m just so honored and humbled to be recognized by the James Beard Foundation again this year. I’m also incredibly proud of my fellow restaurant and chef semifinalists here in Asheville, because this city has been through so much the past few months.”
He is referring, of course, to widespread flooding that devastated his Western North Carolina city in the wake of Hurricane Helene at the end of September, washing away roads, bridges, houses and cars, leaving parts of town underwater for days.
“These honors will certainly help shine a light on our city at a time when we really need it,” Dissen said. “This is absolutely amazing.”
From the list of 20 semifinalists in each category, the James Beard Foundation will announce its top five finalists for each award later this spring, inviting those folks to the same awards gala in Chicago where Paul Smith brought home his “Best Chef: Southeast” win last year.
Good luck, chefs!
Share your best Restaurant Week dishes
Now that the first night of Charleston Restaurant Week is under our belt, I’d love to know where everyone ate last night, what you had and, most importantly, if it rocked your world.
In fact, please keep in touch throughout the week so I can keep tabs on the top dishes and experiences I don’t want to miss before this year’s event comes to a close this Saturday.
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.