MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Munchies:
People's Choice Food Awards returns for its fourth year as
Tablespoon.com, a General Mills website, honors 100 of the top food
experiences in America and salutes Dan
Barber as its Inaugural Inspirational Food Thought Leader.
Beginning today, the public has the chance to cast their votes for
nominees from across the country chosen by an expert panel of 43
culinary tastemakers. Categories range from Best Food Competition
TV Show to Best Chef; Best Burger to Best Ramen and Best Coffee
Shop to Best Cocktail Bar, and the public can vote on their food
favorites daily through March 31 at
Tablespoon.com/themunchies.
James Beard award-winning television personality and Chef Andrew
Zimmern returns to lead The Munchies expert panel, working with a
wide-ranging panel of well-known food personalities to create the
short list of nominees.
"Food is an integral part of our individual lives and communal
culture in America. I'm always fascinated to see what the public
considers desirable and worthy of applause via this unparalleled
food awards program," said Zimmern. "The Munchies provides a unique
opportunity to spark a national conversation about fantastic food
and empowers the public to voice who is most deserving. And new
this year, the expert panel and I are proud to recognize Chef
Dan Barber for his great work with
the Inspirational Food Thought Leader Award."
Inspirational Food Thought Leader
Award
Chef-thinker Dan
Barber is named the 2015 Inspirational Food Thought Leader
by Zimmern and the Munchies Awards' expert panel. New to the The
Munchies: People's Choice Food Awards, the honor recognizes the
person that has had the greatest positive transformative impact on
the country's food system and made a substantial impact for our
future.
As the chef at New York's Blue
Hill restaurant, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester, Barber practices a kind of
close-to-the-land cooking and stewardship of the earth. Working as
an advocate of good food and sustainable agriculture, Barber has
popularized simple ideas that upend the way people think about the
food they eat. In spring of 2006, Barber won James Beard's "Best
Chef, New York City," and in 2009,
Barber received the James Beard award for "America's Outstanding
Chef", and was named one of the world's most influential people in
Time's annual "Time 100" list. In 2014 he published The Third
Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food.
In addition to selecting the honoree of the Inspirational Food
Thought Leader award, The Munchies expert panel shared their
culinary perspectives to determine the 100 nominees across three
groups of categories:
- Terrific Tastemakers gives props to the media and
personalities who make the food world delicious, from the Best Food
Competition TV Show to the Best Food Blog or Site.
- Best Bites honors the most intriguing interpretations of
our favorite foods, like the Best Ramen, the Best Steak and the
Best Taco.
- Delicious Destinations pays homage to the haunts that
keep us coming back for more, from Best Food Truck to Best Craft
Brewery.
"The Munchies: People's Choice Food Awards celebrates the best
of the best across 20 categories in the world of food. We are
excited for another year of heated competition," said Heather Reid Liebo, Food Content Marketing
Manager at General Mills. "New for 2015 is elimination-style voting
where the lowest vote getter in each category will be eliminated
each round. Look for this to spice up the competition even more
than before!"
Once again, The Munchies: People's Choice Food Awards will be
making a donation to Feeding America on behalf of the expert
panelists and voters.
Food enthusiasts can satisfy their cravings and vote daily at
Tablespoon.com/themunchies now through March
31, 2015. The winners of the 2015 Munchies Awards will be
based on popular vote and announced on Tablespoon.com in early
April.
The List of 2015 Munchies Nominees
Best Food Competition TV Show
- Chopped, Food Network
- Iron Chef America, Food Network
- Knife Fight, Esquire Network
- Food Network Star, Food Network
- The Taste, ABC
Best Food TV Personality
- Alton Brown, Cutthroat Kitchen,
Food Network
- Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown,
CNN
- Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa:
Back to Basics, Food Network
- Michael Symon, The Chew,
ABC
- Mo Rocca, My Grandmother's
Ravioli, Cooking Channel
Best Chef
- Ashley Christensen, Poole's
Diner, Raleigh, NC
- Hugh Acheson, Five & Ten,
Athens, GA
- Ignacio Mattos, Estela,
New York, NY
- Jamie Bissonette, Toro,
Boston, MA
- Paul Kahan, Blackbird,
Chicago, IL
Best Food Blog or Site
- Food Republic
- I Am a Food Blog
- Perennial Plate
- Serious Eats
- Smitten Kitchen
Best New Cookbook
- Flour and Water: Pasta, Thomas
McNaughton, Ten Speed Press
- Heritage, Sean Brock,
Artisan
- Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen, Dana Cowin, Ecco
- My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and
Stories, David Lebovitz, Ten Speed
Press
- Plenty More, Yotom Ottolenghi, Ten Speed Press
Best Food Magazine
- Bon Appetit, Conde Nast
- Cherry Bombe
- Food & Wine
- Lucky Peach
- Saveur, Bonnier Corporation
Best Pizza
- DiFara Pizza, Brooklyn,
NY
- Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix,
AZ
- Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis,
MN
- Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles,
CA
- Pizzeria Vetri, Philadelphia,
PA
Best Burger
- Au Cheval, Chicago, IL
- The Company Burger, New Orleans,
LA
- Father's Office, Los Angeles,
CA
- Holeman and Finch Public House, Atlanta, GA
- Minetta Tavern, New York,
NY
Best BBQ
- Franklin Barbecue, Austin,
TX
- Kreuz Market, Lockhart, TX
- Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint, Nashville,
TN
- Mighty Quinn's Barbeque, New York,
NY
- Scott's Bar-B-Que, Hemingway,
SC
Best Steak
- Doe's Eat Place, Greenville,
MS
- Gibsons Steakhouse, Chicago,
IL
- Keens Steakhouse, New York,
NY
- Lonesome Dove, Fort Worth
TX
- Peter Luger Steak House, Brooklyn,
NY
Best Taco
- Big Star, Chicago, IL
- Empellon Taqueria, New York,
NY
- Guerrilla Tacos, Los Angeles,
CA
- Mas Tacos Por Favor, Nashville,
TN
- Taqueria del Sol, Atlanta, GA
Best Ramen
- Daikokuya, Los Angeles,
CA
- Ippudo, New York, NY
- Ivan Ramen, New York, NY
- Ramen Tatsu-ya, Austin, TX
- Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle, Los
Angeles, CA
Best Donut
- Dough, Brooklyn, NY
- Doughnut Plant, New York,
NY
- Doughnut Vault, Chicago,
IL
- Federal Donuts, Philadelphia,
PA
- Glam Doll Donuts, Minneapolis,
MN
Best Ice Cream
- Ample Hills Creamery, Brooklyn,
NY
- Big Gay Ice Cream, New York,
NY
- Bi-Rite Creamery San Francisco,
CA
- Graeter's, Cincinnati, OH
- Salt & Straw, Portland,
OR
Best Sandwich Spot
- Cochon Butcher, New Orleans,
LA
- Katz's Delicatessen, New York,
NY
- Porchetta, New York, NY
- Robert's Western World, Nashville,
TN
- Zingerman's Deli, Ann Arbor,
MI
Best Coffee Shop
- Blue Bottle Coffee, Oakland,
CA
- Crema, Nashville, TN
- La Colombe, Philadelphia,
PA
- Panther Coffee, Miami, FL
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Portland,
OR
Best Food Truck
- Biscuit Love Truck, Nashville,
TN
- East Side King, Austin,
TX
- King of Pops, Atlanta, GA
- Kogi BBQ Truck, Los Angeles,
CA
- Nong's Khao Man Gai,
Portland, OR
Best Craft Brewery
- Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo,
MI
- Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn,
NY
- Goose Island, Chicago, IL
- Sixpoint Brewery, Brooklyn,
NY
- Surly Brewing Co., Minneapolis,
MN
Best Cocktail Bar
- Cure, New Orleans, LA
- Marvel Bar, Minneapolis, MN
- Pegu Club, New York, NY
- The Aviary, Chicago, IL
- Trick Dog, San Francisco,
CA
Best Food City
- Chicago, IL
- Los Angeles, CA
- New Orleans, LA
- Portland, OR
- San Francisco, CA
The Munchies Award's Expert Panelists
The Munchies nominees were chosen by a panel of culinary
tastemakers including stars of blogs, podcasts, books, restaurants
and TV. Below is the complete list of panelists:
Andrew Zimmern
Aaron Sanchez
Allen Salkin
Amy Thielen
Andrew Haley
Angie Dudley
Arthur Bovino
Bill Esparza
Brady Lowe
Bryce Gilmore
Caryl Chinn
Clarissa Wei
Daniel Klein
Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
Donald Link
Eden Grinshpan
Edward Lee
Erin Byers Murray
Gavin Kaysen
Georgia Pellegrini
Gerard Craft
Ingrid Hoffmann
Jeni Britton Bauer
Jenn Louis
Jennifer V. Cole
Jennifer Jasinski
John Besh
Jordana Rothman
Judy Joo
Justin Warner
Katie Chin
Kristen Olson
Lee Schrager
Martie Duncan
Matt Lee (THE LEE BROS.)
Pat LaFrieda
Raghavan Iyer
Randy Fisher
Rudy Maxa
Sean Brock
Ted Lee (THE LEE BROS.)
Tim Love
Willie Degel
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SOURCE General Mills