Food in the 21st century has become much more than âmeat and potatoesâ and canned soup casseroles.â Chefs have gained celebrity status; recipes and exotic ingredients, once impossible to find, are now just a mouse click away; and the country's major cities are better known for their gastronomy than their art galleries. This food movement can be traced back to one man: James Beard. His name graces the highest culinary honor in the American food world todayâthe James Beard Foundation Awards. And while chefs all around the country aspire to win a James Beard Award, often referred to as the âculinary Oscars,â many of those same chefs know very little about the man behind the medal. Respected restaurateur Drew Nieporent summed it up when he said, âEverybody knows the name James Beard. They may not know who he is, but they know the name.â
