The 2016 JBF Awards For Books, Broadcast And Journalism

By Tasting Table Staff/April 27, 2016 3:24 pm EST

Last night, the James Beard Foundation announced the winners of this year's awards for books, broadcast and journalism. Book awards go to works published in English in 2015. Broadcast awards go to television, web and radio programs that aired in 2015, and journalism awards go to articles published in 2015.

The theme of the awards ceremony, held at Chelsea Piers in New York City, was TV Dinners, and the winners walked up to the stage to the soundtracks of beloved theme songs. (Our favorite: Francis Lam, who was paired with the Seinfeld theme and joked as he reached the podium, "A show about nothing!") Iconic clips of food on TV were also highlighted, from Dan Aykroyd's famous Julia Child impersonation on SNL to I Love Lucy's Vitameatavegamin.

Double congrats to Lucky Peach, which won Best Food Blog and Best Publication, and also to Michael Solomonov, whose Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking won best international cookbook and Book of the Year. The latter award was the last of the night, and Solomonov and business partner Steve Cook had a bit of a Christine-Lahti-at-the-Golden-Globes moment. After the big Lucky Peach announcement, "We thought [the night] was over," Solomonov says. So they hopped in a cab to start making their way home to Philadelphia. "We were in the cab and got a text. It was a pretty epic moment." (Find a recipe for Solomonov's Breakfast Kale Salad here.)

We're delighted to see Vivian Howard, who showed us the way with bacon-roasted root vegetables, pick up the award for Outstanding Personality/Host in A Chef's Life. And we're likewise happy to see NOPI: The Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, win Cooking from a Professional Point of View, and J. Kenji López-Alt's The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science win for General Cooking.

Congrats also go to Lam for his New York Times Magazine column and to investigative reporters Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell, who just won a Pulitzer Prize, for their brave work on "Seafood from Slaves: An AP Investigation Helps Free Slaves in the 21st Century," which rocked the seafood industry.

Everyone from the long list of nominees is already a winner, but the official 2016 awards go to . . .

2016 James Beard Foundation Book Awards

American Cooking
The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook
Chris Fischer with Catherine Young
(Little, Brown and Company)
See here for TT's review.

Baking and Dessert
Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More
Sarah Owens
(Roost Books)

Beverage
The Oxford Companion to Wine
Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding
(Oxford University Press)

Cooking from a Professional Point of View
NOPI: The Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully
(Ten Speed Press)
Read more about the cookbook here and find a recipe for chicken pastilla from Nopi here.

Focus on Health
Lighten Up, Y'all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome
Virginia Willis
(Ten Speed Press)

General Cooking
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
J. Kenji López-Alt
(W. W. Norton & Company)

International
Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
(Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Read more about Michael Solomonov here and find a recipe from the cookbook here.

Photography
Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel
Heidi Swanson
Photographer: Heidi Swanson
(Ten Speed Press)

Reference and Scholarship
The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks
Toni Tipton-Martin
(University of Texas Press)

Single Subject
A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood
Diana Henry
(Mitchell Beazley)

Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian
V Is for Vegetables: Inspired Recipes & Techniques for Home Cooks
Michael Anthony
(Little, Brown and Company)

Writing and Literature
Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)
Marion Nestle
(Oxford University Press)

Book of the Year
Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
(Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Read more about the cookbook here.

The winner of the Book of the Year Award and the Cookbook Hall of Fame is Deborah Madison.

2016 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Awards

Documentary
The Starfish Throwers
Director: Jesse Roesler
Producers: Jesse Roesler and Melody Gilbert
Airs on: DirecTV Audience Network and iTunes

Outstanding Personality/Host
Host: Vivian Howard
A Chef's Life
Airs on: PBS

Podcast
Gravy
Host: Tina Antolini
Producer: Tina Antolini
Airs on: southernfoodways.org/gravy

Radio Show/Audio Webcast
The Food Chain: Chinatown
Host: Dan Saladino
Producers: Kent DePinto, Sarah Stolarz, and Dan Saladino
Airs on: NPR Stations/BBC World Service

Special
Lidia Celebrates America: Home for the Holidays
Host: Lidia Bastianich
Producers: Laurie Donnelly, Anne Adams, and Shelly Burgess Nicotra
Airs on: PBS

Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location
Extra Virgin
Hosts: Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos
Producers: Gordon Elliott, Mark Schneider, Dan Connell, Sara Porter, Debi Mazar, and Gabriele Corcos?
Airs on: Cooking Channel

Television Program, on Location
I'll Have What Phil's Having
Host: Phil Rosenthal
Producers: Laurie Donnelly, Phil Rosenthal, Richard Rosenthal, John Bedolis, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Craig H. Shepherd, and David Beebe
Airs on: PBS

Television Segment
PBS NewsHour's "Food4Thought"
Host: Allison Aubrey
Producer: Mary Beth Durkin
Airs on: PBS

Video Webcast, Fixed Location and/or Instructional
Indian Curries: The Basics & Beyond
Host: Raghavan Iyer
Producer: Jared Maher
Airs on: craftsy.com

Video Webcast, on Location
The Sushi Chef: Oona Tempest and Toshio Oguma
Producer: Elana Schulman
Airs on: munchies.vice.com

Visual and Technical Excellence
Chef's Table
Directors: David Gelb, Clay Jeter, Brian McGinn and Andrew Fried
Photographers: Will Basanta and Adam Bricker
Editors: Brad Grossman, J. Santos, Eric Freidenberg, Ravi Subramanian, Adrienne Gits and Jesse Overman
Airs on: Netflix

2016 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards

Dining and Travel
"America's Best Food Cities"
Tom Sietsema
The Washington Post

Food and Culture
"Straight-Up Passing"
John Birdsall
Jarry

Food and Health
"The Healthy Cook's Guide to Fat"
Sidney Fry and Robin Bashinsky
Cooking Light

Food Blog
Lucky Peach

Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication
Los Angeles Magazine
Lesley Bargar Suter and Bill Esparza

Food-Related Columns
"Eat"
Francis Lam
New York Times Magazine T

Food Reporting
"Seafood from Slaves – An AP Investigation Helps Free Slaves in the 21st Century"
Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason, and Robin McDowell
Associated Press

Home Cooking
"Cook like a Pro!"
Adam Rapoport
Bon Appétit

Humor
@Freshcutgardenhose
Maryse Chevriere
Instagram

Personal Essay
"On Chicken Tenders"
Helen Rosner
Guernica

Profile
"Christiane Lauterbach: The Woman Who Ate Atlanta"
Wendell Brock
The Bitter Southerner

Visual Storytelling
"One Night: Kachka"
Erin DeJesus, Danielle Centoni, Jen Stevenson, Dina Avila, McGraw Wolfman
Eater

Wine, Spirits and Other Beverages
"There Are Almost No Black People Brewing Craft Beer. Here's Why."
Dave Infante
Thrillist

Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award
"A Health Food Restaurant So Cool It Will Have You Happily Eating Seeds," "Revisiting Momofuku Ko, After the Revolution," "Polo Bar Review: Ralph Lauren Corrals the Fashionable Herd"
Tejal Rao
Bloomberg Pursuits

MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
"Pork Life"
Todd Kliman
Lucky Peach