Traditionally, at the end of the year, everyone sums up the results. The restaurant business is no exception. One of the interesting awards is the Eater Awards, in which the authoritative American publication Eater identifies the chefs and establishments in the United States who, over the past 12 months, have significantly influenced the gastronomic space of America and the world as a whole.
Who won the 2017 awards?
- Chef of the Year – Ashley Christensen
Ashley is a successful restaurateur, chef, and cookbook author. Particularly noteworthy is her proactive position on gender inequality in the restaurant industry. Ashley takes an active part in social projects, conveying to the general public the idea of how far from ideal the existing state of affairs.
- Most Successful Restaurateur – Martha Hoover
Before getting into the restaurant business, Martha worked as a sexual harassment prosecutor. In 1989, she launched her first project in Indianapolis, which instantly gained universal love. The key to the success of Martha’s establishments lies in her philosophy “to cook understandable food with a slightly perceptible French charm, the one that her family loves.”
True, the honorary title of “The most successful restaurateur” Hoover received, rather, thanks to her attitude towards subordinates, civic position and charity work. Her Patachou Foundation prepares up to 1000 servings of delicious homemade food every week for children in need.
- Role model – Jose Andres
On September 25, Chef Andres arrived in Puerto Rico with his non-profit organization World Central Kitchen, where a huge hurricane had hit. Over the course of several weeks, he provided more assistance to local residents than any other government agency.
During this time, the chef has donated more than 3 million meals to the victims. Over 12 pounds of turkey with corn, potatoes and cranberry sauce, the team of Jose Andres prepared for Thanksgiving.
- Best New Restaurant – Junebaby
A year after the success of his first Salare establishment, chef Eduardo Jordan opened his second, Junebaby. The restaurant attracts guests with an atmosphere of home comfort and family traditions. Fried chicken, for example, is served here only on Sunday evenings, and the chef’s old family recipes are especially popular with guests.
- Best restaurant interior – Eight tables
This Chinese restaurant is located in San Francisco. Its interior was designed by Avroko, which many compare to the iconic New York Yankees baseball team in the design industry.
The designers sought to create a harmony of modern industrialism and Chinese authenticity, to reproduce the estate of a family from China, which has been living in the United States for quite a long time, but honors ancient traditions. The establishment deliberately moved away from the idea of large common rooms and divided the premises into cozy rooms for a small number of guests.
- TV Chef of the Year – Nancy Silverton
Its charm and special approach to the culinary art, as to something easy and accessible to everyone who wants to cook, fascinates and attracts the audience. Silverton teaches how to bake homemade pizza, prepare country salads, while serving them effectively.
- Best Cookbook Feed the Resistance
“Food independence” – this is the translation of the book by Julia Türschen, which brought her fame in 2017. In it, the author has brought together the thoughts of chefs, critics, restaurateurs and other opinion leaders in order to instill in people a culture of cooking and consuming food “with meaning”.
- Brand of the Year – KFC
In 2017, KFC played on the emotions of the consumer, appealing at the same time to nostalgia for the old days and the desire to keep up with the latest technologies. This idea was highly appreciated by the Eater experts.
- Media Person of the Year – Chrissy Teigen
Model, leader of me, mother, wife of popular singer John Legend. Her pages on social networks are full of humor, sharp remarks and warm photos from family dinners and meetings with friends. As a big fan of gastronomy, Teigen released her first cookbook, Cravings, in 2017, where she collected her favorite recipes.