CIA faculty member and 21 alumni earn James Beard Award nominations

 

Chef Francisco Migoya, associate professor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), has been nominated for a 2011 James Beard Foundation Award in the "Cooking from a Professional Point of View" category for his book The Modern Café (John Wiley & Sons, 2010). Chef Migoya teaches Café Operations as the instructor and executive chef in the Apple Pie Bakery Café, one of five public restaurants on the CIA's Hyde Park campus.

CIA graduates are nominees throughout the broadcast media, restaurant, and chef award categories. Twenty-one alumni earned nominations, with two—Duff Goldman '98 and Rajat Parr '96—each receiving a pair of nominations.

Other graduates among the high-profile award nominees are Gary Danko '77 for Outstanding Chef; Mario Carbone '00 and Rich Torrisi '00 for Best New Restaurant; and Aaron London '00, Thomas McNaughton '04, and Sue Zemanick '01 for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Eight more CIA alumni are nominees for Best Chef awards in various regions of the United States.

The college's Board of Trustees is also well-represented among this year's Beard Foundation honorees. Board member Thomas Keller is a nominee for the Outstanding Service Award at Per Se in New York City. Chairman Emeritus Nick Valenti, CEO of Patina Restaurant Group, is being inducted into Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America. And, Trustee Emeritus Kevin Zraly is the 2011 recipient of the foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for this year's awards on March 21. Award winners will be announced in New York City on May 6 for books and media and May 9 for restaurants and chefs.