Well hard work sure does pay off, doesn’t it? Yup, PieLab was nominated for the uber prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant Design. Not only is this a mega-deal on its own, but we were up against the Wright Cafe in the Guggenheim Museum and Choice Market in Brooklyn. Both so obviously had multi-million dollar budgets to work with and not to mention, professional architects. To us it was merely laughable to think we’d be put up against these establishments. As far fetched as it seemed to be nominated for this award, all of us involved could not have been more proud and honored with all the attention it brought to PieLab and the little town of Greensboro.
Dan and I both knew what an amazing opportunity it would be to attend the awards ceremony in NYC. All the celebrity chefs in attendance and fancy food made it near impossible to pass up. I was lucky enough to have the greatest mother in the world who helped us raise the funds to pay for our tickets and airfare. My mother was quite the slave to the stove the month prior, making batches of pecan brittle and toffee to sell to her friends. Let’s just say all the work she did went above and beyond. Thanks mom!
When we arrived in NYC, we checked into our hotel room and started dressing in our finest black tie attire. People, the butterflies were uncontrollable. It was the most frightening thing to me to think that I would soon have to make a thank you speech if we had won the award. We arrived at the event, checked in and were immediately brought to the red carpet. It was seriously the most EXHILARATING moment ever. That most likely will never happen in my life again… ever! I don’t think I’ll even get to see the photos that were taken, being the complete opposite of a celebrity. At least I have these headless photos that my world renowned photographer mother took!
As we walked in, my eyes were all over the place looking for my favorite stars on food network. There were so many restaurants set up with amazing food and drinks but I was way to nervous to eat anything! We took our seats and prepared for the event. Alton Brown was the host that evening and he was quite entertaining. Our category wasn’t until near the end so we had a lot of anticipation the entire time. When it came time to announce our category, I was squeezing Dan’s hand the entire time. It was pretty much all a blur to me at that point, as if the room when silent. It was really awesome to see the work we did up on the big screen and announced by Lidia Bastianich. When I realized that the award went to the Wright, first thought in my now calm mind was “let’s eat!”.
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the greatest and most innovative food I’ve tasted. Check out the photographs of the food here. It’s food porn, seriously. Great cocktails as well. It was so incredible mingling amongst chefs like Tom Colicchio, Jaques Pepin, Mario Batali, and Frank Stitt. Yes, I was star struck a little.
All in all, I am in no way disappointed with not winning the award. To be nominated is just as big as an accomplishment for us. I am so proud of everyone involved in the project.
