Matt Molina, Wolfgang Puck win James Beard awards

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Matt Molina, the executive chef at Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza, was named the best chef in the Pacific region Monday night at the 2012 James Beard Foundation restaurant awards. Wolfgang Puck was awarded the lifetime achievement award. In the journalism awards presented over the weekend, Los Angeles magazine’s Leslie Barger Suter won an award for best food coverage in a general-interest publication. The Times does not enter the awards.

Other than that, it was not a great year for Southern California. Daniel Humm of New York’s Eleven Madison Park won the award for outstanding chef, San Francisco’s Boulevard won as outstanding restaurant, Christina Tosi from New York’s Momofuku Milk Bar was honored as rising-star chef, and Grant Achatz’s new project in Chicago, Next, won the award as best new restaurant. Find the foundation’s complete list of the restaurant and cookbook awards after the jump.

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2012 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards Outstanding Restaurant: Boulevard, San Francisco. Outstanding Chef: Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park, NYC. Outstanding Restaurateur: Tom Douglas, Tom Douglas Restaurants, Seattle. Rising Star Chef of the Year: Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar, NYC. Best New Restaurant: Next, Chicago. Outstanding Pastry Chef: Mindy Segal, Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, Chicago.

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH): Bruce Sherman, North Pond, Chicago. Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (D.C., DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA): Maricel Presilla, Cucharamama, Hoboken, NJ. Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI): Tory Miller, L’Etoile, Madison, WI. Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs): Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern. Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY STATE, RI, VT): Tim Cushman, O Ya, Boston. Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY): Matt Dillon, Sitka & Spruce, Seattle. Best Chef: Pacific (CA, HI): Matt Molina, Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles. Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS): Chris Hastings, Hot and Hot Fish Club, Birmingham, AL. Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV): Hugh Acheson, Five and Ten, Athens, GA; and Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta. Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX, UT): Paul Qui, Uchiko, Austin, TX.

Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional: Paul Grieco, Terroir, NYC. Outstanding Wine Program: No. 9 Park, Boston. Outstanding Bar Program: PDT, NYC. Outstanding Service: La Grenouille, NYC.

2012 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics: The Fry Bread House, 4140 North 7th Avenue, Phoenix, Owner: Cecelia Miller; Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, 5600 West Highway 22, Wilson, WY, Owners: Nora Tygum, Trace Tygum, and Kathryn Tygum Taylor; St. Elmo Steak House, 127 South Illinois St., Indianapolis, Owners: Stephen Huse and Craig Huse; Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, 219 West Louisiana St., Marianna, AR, Owners: James and Betty Jones; Shady Glen, 840 East Middle Turnpike, Manchester, CT, Owners: William and Annette Hoch.

2012 James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America Inductees: Grant Achatz, Chef and Author, Chicago; Mark Bittman, Journalist and Author, NYC; Dana Cowin, Editor and Journalist, NYC; Emily Luchetti, Pastry Chef and Author, San Francisco; Marvin Shanken, Publisher, NYC.

2012 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award: Wolfgang Puck, chef and restaurateur, Los Angeles. 2012 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year: Charlie Trotter, chef and restaurateur, Chicago.

2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards

Cookbook of the Year: “Modernist Cuisine”, by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet.
Cookbook Hall of Fame: Laurie Colwin, “Home Cooking” and “More Home Cooking”. American Cooking: “A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen”, by Hugh Acheson.
Baking and Dessert: “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home”, by Jeni Britton Bauer. Beverage: “Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, & Formulas”, by Brad Thomas Parsons. Cooking from a Professional Point of View: “Modernist Cuisine”, by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet. General Cooking: “Ruhlman’s Twenty”, by Michael Ruhlman. Focus on Health: “Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen, by Heidi Swanson. International: “The Food of Morocco,” by Paula Wolfert. Photography: “Notes from a Kitchen: A Journey Inside Culinary Obsession”, Artist/Photographer: Jeff Scott. Reference and Scholarship: “Turning the Tables: Restaurants and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880–1920”, by Andrew P. Haley. Single Subject: “All About Roasting”, by Molly Stevens. Writing and Literature : “Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef”, by Gabrielle Hamilton.