The James Beard Foundation Awards
RECOGNIZE SANTA FE CHEFS & RESTAURANTS
I
n 1990, five years after the illustrious James Beard had passed, the annual awards in his name were established to “recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.” And right out of the gate, Chef Mark Miller of Santa Fe’s Coyote Cafe, often called the “founder of modern Southwestern cuisine” was recognized as a nominee for Best Chef of the Southwest, eventually winning the coveted James Beard Foundation Award in 1996. Ever since, chefs and restaurants from the small city of Santa Fe (population 85,000) have not only been nominated again and again, but have WON many times. Why is this?! Perhaps some clues lie in looking back over the centuries, where an amalgam of influences, including Native American and Spanish have shaped Santa Fe’s gastronomy. From the “Three Sisters”—corn, beans, and squash—to the cherished chile pepper, Santa Fe’s culinary scene continues to be an epicenter of cultural exploration in the Southwest, with hundreds of one-of-a-kind, locally owned, world-class restaurants, both uber-casual and fine, helmed by passionate chefs. It’s safe to say that The City Different’s multicultural community is devoted to creative and novel approaches to the culinary arts! The Man Behind the James Beard Foundation Awards While it’s a shame that James Beard will never know of his great legacy, it’s rewarding to reflect on his life and what led to his becoming so influential.
Born in 1903 in Portland, Oregon, James Beard steadily developed a keen interest in food. He spent his early twenties rambling through Europe, where he joined a theater troupe, eventually landing in Paris and falling in love with French cuisine. Hollywood and New York then called his name for a career in the theater, and when that didn’t materialize financially, he and a friend started a catering company and shop called Hors d’Oeuvre, Inc., with an aim to take advantage of the post-Prohibition cocktail party trend. This is where Beard’s true calling took hold as he began lecturing, teaching, and writing about the importance of real cooking and fresh ingredients, which he saw as the bedrock of American cuisine. In 1940, he published Hors D’Oeuvre and Canapés, a collection of his catering recipes and in 1942, Cook It Outdoors. Within a few years, he became a celebrity in the American food world, with more published cookbooks and articles, appearances on television and radio, numerous consultant gigs, as well as a Nantucket Island restaurant. Anointed the “Dean of American cookery” by The New York Times in 1954, he opened James Beard Cooking School in 1955 and taught at two locations (New York and Seaside, Oregon) for the next 30 years, all the while spreading his simple message of the value of wholesome American food. After Beard’s death in 1985, contemporary and kindred culinary spirit Julia Child was inspired to memorialize his home as the dear gathering place it had become over the years. Now his renovated brownstone in Greenwich Village is North America’s only historic culinary center and hosts the James Beard Foundation, established in 1986, to “provide scholarships to aspiring food professionals and champion the American culinary tradition.” Morphing over the years, the JBF of today aims to be “a destination for excellence across the independent restaurant industry, driving the country towards a better food system.”
1991 Best Chef of the Southwest Nominee Mark Miller, Coyote Cafe
2004 Best Chef of the Southwest Nominee Mark Kiffin, The Compound Restaurant
1995 Cookbook Winner Cheryl Jamison, Smoke & Spice
2005 Best Chef of the Southwest Winner Mark Kiffin, The Compound Restaurant
1996 Cookbook Winner Cheryl Jamison, The Border Cookbook: Authentic Home Cooking of the American southwest and Northern Mexico
2007 Cookbook Winner Cheryl Jamison, The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining
1996 Outstanding Restaurant Graphics Winner Mike Fink, The Double A 1996 Best Chef of the Southwest Winner Mark Miller, Coyote Cafe 1999 Best Chef of the Southwest Nominee Katharine Kagel, Cafe Pasqual’s 2000 Cookbook Winner Cheryl Jamison, American Home Cooking 2003 Cookbook Nominee Cheryl Jamison, A Real American Breakfast
32
| Santa Fe Menu Magazine 2025–2026
2008 Best Chef of the Southwest Semifinalist David Sellers, Amavi 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 Best Chef of the Southwest Semifinalist James Campbell Caruso, La Boca 2009, 2010 Best Chef of the Southwest Semifinalist Eric DiStefano, Coyote Cafe 2010 Best New Restaurant Semifinalist Restaurant Martín 2010, 2008 Best Chef of the Southwest Semifinalist Joseph Wrede, Joseph’s