Beards Shaved

I posted earlier with the local slant on the James Beard Award semifinalists. The actual nominations were announced today. South Florida products still in contention (all for Best Chef South):

- Zach Bell of Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach;
- Douglas Rodriguez of Ola in South Beach; and
- Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami's Design District.

Also on the Best Chef South list - John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, MS and John Harris of Lilette in New Orleans.

Out of the running? Sra. Martinez for Best New Restaurant (and let it be noted, in my original post I nailed all five of the finalists for this category!); Palme d'Or for Best Service and Best Wine Service; Dean James Max of 3030 Ocean and Edgar Leal of Cacao in the Best Chef South category.

I'm thinking a Beard is in store for Michael - though as you can see, he's already got one (and a chicken too).*

The whole list is here.

*Picture via www.sustainablesuppers.com, though I don't think it's originally theirs either.