If you’ve never dined at The James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village, you are in for a one-of-a-kind experience. Formerly the home of the beloved cookbook author, educator and culinary raconteur, James Beard, aka “the Dean of American Cooking,” The James Beard House has been called “the Carnegie Hall of the Culinary World.”
Almost nightly a spectacular dinner takes place, prepared by a talented guest chef from around the world, delighting members lucky enough to score a seat. More than 53,000 dining events have taken place at The James Beard House since its first dinner in 1987 prepared by Chef Wolfgang Puck, owner of Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills.
It’s also home to The James Beard Foundation, a non-profit founded in 1986 to celebrate, nurture and honor chefs anf other leaders in the industry. Educational programs, scholarships, advocacy and the annual James Beard Foundation Awards are among its many programs. Since 1991, The James Beard Foundation has awarded $7 million in scholarships. JBF Awards recipients now number over 2500 since the program was launched in 1991 and was soon dubbed by TIME magazine as “the Oscars of the food & beverage industry.”
The James Beard Foundation President Susan Ungaro joins us August 9, 2pm EST, on The Connected Table LIVE (W4CY Radio/www.W4CY.com). During Susan’s 11-year tenure she has initiated programs to align with the mission of JBF and its commitment to education, philanthropy and advocacy, and in the process raised its profile beyond the JBF Awards, JBF House dinners and other longtime special events. These include initiatives such as The annual JBF Food Summit, the JBF Leadership Awards and the Women in Culinary Leadership Program.
