On his home page this afternoon (May 4), renowned Seattle chef Jason Wilson of Crush restaurant was still featuring his nomination for the Best Chef Northwest award from the James Beard Foundation. Actually, Wilson won the prestigious award the night before.
This was a year in which it looked like Portland might have the better chance to score the award. As The Oregonian reported in March, three Portland chefs received nominations, to only two from Seattle (Ethan Stowell of Union was the other Seattle nominee). With undisguised glee, the report began, "For the first time in the 20-year history of the James Beard Foundation Awards, Portland chefs are dominating the competition for Best Chef Northwest honors, taking three of the five finalist slots that were announced Monday in New York City."
The Wilson web site features a rather amazing list of awards, honors, and media mentions for a restaurant that just celebrated its fifth anniversary in February. When the celebrations slow down, the listing can be topped with the Best Chef Northwest award. Perhaps that will be a good excuse to make the very last item on the current list disappear: "2005 Featured on Rachael Ray'ês 'Tasty Travels.' "
