The 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards gala was held this evening. Gerard Craft, chef-owner of Niche, Pastaria, Brasserie and Taste, was in the running for the title of Best Chef: Midwest; however, the four-time finalist did not win this year. The honor went instead to Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City, Mo.
Craft (pictured at right) won’t return to St. Louis with a James Beard award in hand, yet he can come home satisfied at having given NYC a great taste of St. Louis. On Thursday, he and Sidney Street Cafe chef-owner Kevin Nashan, who was named a semi-finalist for a Beard Award in the same category as Craft this year, hosted a Spirit of St. Louis dinner at City Grit. City Grit is a culinary salon that serves as a space for chefs from around the world to showcase their culinary talents. Craft and Nashan teamed up to prepare a six-course tasting menu that highlighted modern Midwest cuisine. They also presented guests with goodie bags containing foodstuffs from local artisan purveyors Pint Size Bakery & Coffee, Salume Beddu, Sump Coffee and YellowTree Farm. See all our coverage of Gerard Craft here, and read Michael Renner’s New and Notable review of Niche, published in the May issue of Sauce, here.
— photo by Carmen Troesser
This article appears in May 2013.