Yesterday evening, at the Brooklyn Museum, representatives of Eater from across this great continent joined friends and acquaintances from the restaurant and nightlife industries to toast the nominees and winners of the 2014 Eater Awards. Accompanied by a brisk night following yesterday's deluge, some of the best and brightest chefs from around the country and some hometown heroes served up deliciousness to a room packed with food-obsessed revelers. Onstage, custom cans of Eater Awards-brand signature Italian peeled tomatoes were stacked high, emblazoned with the names of the Eater Award winners from 24 cities.
Huge thanks go out to our guest chefs: Erik Bruner-Yang of Toki Underground in Washington DC, Michael Fojtasek and Grae Nonas of Olamaie in Austin, Jessica Koslow of Sqirl in Los Angeles, Eli Kulp of High Street on Market, Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper of Russ & Daughters Cafe on the Lower East Side, Trevor Moran of the Catbird Seat in Nashville, Nong Poonsukawatta of Nong's Khao Man Gai in Portland, Brent Young and Gil Calderon of The Meat Hook Sandwich Shop in Brooklyn, Iliana Regan of Elizabeth in Chicago, Rachel Yang of Joule, Revel, and Trove in Seattle, Saul Bolton of Saul in Brooklyn, and Nick Morgenstern of Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream.
Peruse the party pictures above and check out some hangover observations below.
- Longest lines of the night were for Iliana Regan's wild rice crispy dish and for scoops of Morgenstern's ice cream.
- Here's something that's never a bad idea in a food party with plenty of delicate bites served on tiny plates: a few giant six-foot-long party subs. So huge props to the Meat Hook Sandwich guys for bringing their A sandwich game (and for sharing two-foot-long sections with other chef stations when they ran out of their own food). Along similar lines, the bread and spread station from Philly's High Street on Market was a clutch addition.
- Station that should've had a longer line but didn't: Rachel Yang's kick-ass eggplant with salted shrimp and Thai basil.
- PR maven Stephen Hall was very excited to present the "Hail Mary of the Year" award can to the Tavern on the Green team for their acquisition of the famed elder statesman Jeremiah Tower.
- Other notables: Melissa Clark, Chef of the Year Award winner for New York Chris Jaeckle, Porsena's Sara Jenkins, Take Root's Elise Kormack, Kevin Denton from Wylie Dufresne's Alder, Sarah Simmons from Birds & Bubbles, Nate Adler of Huertas, JJ Johnson from the Cecil, Terry Coughlin of Marta, and Littleneck's Aaron Lefkove.
- The afterparty this year took place at Franklin Park, and oh the Knob Creek was a-flowing.
- More special thanks to our sponsors: Visit Philadelphia, Chelsea Hotels and the Martha Washington, Travel Portland, ICE, Whole Foods, Gullo Seafood, Astor Center, Verterra Sustainable Dinnerware, Fleisher's Pasture-Raised Meats, Verity Wines, Queens Courage Old Tom Gin, Due North Rum, Sixpoint Brewery, Tito's Handmade Vodka, and Underwood Pinot Noir.
