Eye on the James Beard Gala

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Those who didn’t make the trek up to NYC this past weekend for the annual James Beard gala, didn’t miss much in terms of hometown love: all our local culinary champions were shut out come awards time.

But that doesn’t mean we weren’t well represented on the cooking front.

Plenty of folks greedily supped chef Ris Lacoste’s  crunchy-rich oyster champagne stew (a heartwarming helping of fried oysters, diced ham, crushed walnuts and zesty chives):

And chefs Jamie Leeds and Antonio Burrell most certainly stunned a few palates with their daring swiss chard-stuffed trout rolls (the pickled fish made for fierce eating).

Meanwhile, we enjoyed watching chef Debbie Gold tend to her marrow and mustard crouton creation (the extravagant offal was coaxed from some 200+ pounds of bones):

But one cannot live on delicacies alone.

Tom Colicchio, for example, made sure to stay cool with a minty fresh Grey Goose cocktail that had plenty of fellow party goers in high spirits:

And protocol queen Martha Stewart let her hair down just a bit as she washed down a D’Artagnan duck dog (slightly gamey, but mostly satisfying) with a frosty Hoegaarden (cheers, Martha!):

Restaurant folks sure know how to party…

–Warren

Tags: Antonio Burrell, Debbie Gold, dining, food, gala, gourmet, Gut Check, James Beard Foundation Awards, Jamie Leeds, Martha Stewart, Northern Virginia Magazine, Ris Lacoste, Tom Colicchio, Warren Rojas