Eat Your Heart Out
And the winner for the most enjoyable awards ceremony? Last week's James Beard Awards, the food-industry Oscars. Would that all winners could be as modest as these folks. When Brigid Callinan accepted her KitchenAid Book Award for "Mustards Grill: Napa Valley Cookbook," she said, "This is so cool." That's all she said. Some awards have nothing to do with food. The prize for outstanding restaurant graphics recognizes the menu or any designed paraphernalia in a restaurant. Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, Calif., won for its ethereal pears and asparagus graphics, designed by Noreen Rei Fukumori, because they embodied the soothing experience of dining at that restaurant, says Ronald Bricke, the prize-committee chair. "I think you can judge a restaurant by the cover of the menu."
But the real attraction is the feast that follows the awards. Close to 40 of the nation's top chefs each serve dishes. This requires both discipline (never take more than three bites or you won't make it to the end) and an elastic waistband.
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Susannah Meadows was named a senior writer in December 2004. She covers politics, works on enterprise stories and is a vital part of the Nation team in its coverage of national and breaking news. Meadows spent a year on the 2004 Presidential campaign trail covering Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry.
Meadows had been a general editor since she joined Newsweek in April 2000. She wrote for the National Affairs and Periscope sections and was a regular contributor to the Arts and Society sections of the magazine.
While at Newsweek, Meadows has written on the five-year anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Serena Williams and the state of the child welfare system. She wrote a cover story, "In Defense of Teen Girls," (6/3/02) and contributed to several others, including the "Lawsuit Hell," cover, an investigation of Rush Limbaugh's drug problems and profiles of both John Kerry and John Edwards. She frequently contributes pieces to the Periscope and writes book reviews for the Arts section.
Prior to joining Newsweek, she was Assistant Editor at GQ, covering style, culture, travel and contributing regular book and movie reviews as well as a humorous monthly grooming column. While at GQ, she also selected and co-edited fiction published in the magazine and picked finalists for the Frederick Exley fiction competition. She also worked at quarterly literary magazine the Paris Review, where she selected short stories for publication.
A regular contributor to the New York Times Book Reviews, Meadows most recently reviewed the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth controversial book, "Unfit for Command." She also written for New York Magazine, the Village Voice, Glamour, Self, Time Out New York and Details.
She graduated Cum Laude from Duke University with a B.A. in English. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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