Decatur Claims Two James Beard Nominees
February 13, 2009 | 3:58 pmThe AJC’s John Kessler posted the Atlanta-area finalists for this year’s James Beard awards and two work their magic right here in Decatur!
One you can certainly guess without any prompting. The other? Well, whatcha got?
See the answers after the jump…or see the full list of Atlanta semifinalists over on John’s blog. (Hint: the Atlanta nominee for Best New Restaurant helped Leon’s get its feet wet in the gastropub world)
Outstanding Chef (National): Scott Peacock, Watershed, Decatur
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Aaron Russell, The Chocolate Bar, Decatur
Congrats to them — well deserved in each case. But my guess was wrong — I thought it would Watershed and Cakes and Ale.
As far as I’m concerned, Scott Peacock should be beatified by the Pope. Can the choir say, “Hallelujah?”
Haven’t had the pleasure of the Chocolate Bar yet but now must, mustn’t I?
Only been to the Chocolate Bar one time (for my birthday), coincidentally right after eating at Watershed. I was impressed, if not necessarily blown away. Been meaning to get back, but the nature of the restaurant makes it kind of hard to plan for. You want to have enough room to sample a decent amount of desserts with wine and/or coffee. Ideal would probably be to have salad and heavy appetizers beforehand, then head over there.
Very thankful to have both places and both ultra-talented chefs (among others) in our community.