No isle chefs nominated
for Beard awards

For the first time in years, no Hawaii chef has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation Awards.

Nominations were announced Wednesday for the premier awards for culinary professionals in the United States.

Hawaii chefs compete alongside chefs in the Pacific Northwest. The last to win was George Mavrothalassitis of Chef Mavro in 2003. Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong also have won, in 1993 and 1995, respectively.

This year's nominees in that category were primarily from Seattle: Scott Carsberg of Lampreia, Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez of the Harvest Vine, John Sundstrom of Lark; plus Holly Smith of Café Juanita in Kirkland, Wash., and Vitaly Paley of Paley's Place Bistro & Bar in Portland, Ore.

The 2005 competition is the first since a financial scandal struck the foundation last year. Many prominent food writers resigned from the awards committees as a result, but a reorganization has since separated the awards process from other operations of the foundation.

Nominees for best chef in the nation went to Mario Batali of Babbo, Tom Colicchio of Gramercy Tavern, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of Nobu and Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill -- all in New York -- plus Paul Bertolli of Oliveto Restaurant & Cafe in Oakland, Calif.

The best restaurant nominees: Boulevard in San Francisco, Everest in Chicago, Galatoire's in New Orleans, Montrachet in New York and Norman's in Coral Gables, Fla.

Winners will be announced May 2.