By J.M. Hirsch
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Food may not have been their first calling, but coming late to the culinary scene clearly hasn’t slowed David Chang and Paul Kahan.
On Monday, the two were jointly honored as the nation’s most outstanding chefs by the James Beard Foundation, an exclamation point on circuitous careers that began in other fields — Chang in finance and Kahan in computer science — but saw them quickly ascend to the top of the restaurant world.
The men — only the third pair to tie for the top chef award in the foundation’s history — have been lauded as restaurant revolutionaries. Chang’s edgy, in-your-face style — not to mention a deft hand with steamed pork buns — has spawned a global empire of media and restaurants, including New York’s Momofuku Ko and Ma Peche — some of the hottest, hard-to-get tables in the city.
“I grew up dreaming what it might be like to do this and how impossible it might be,” said Chang, who said he has idolized Kahan for years. “I’m really, truly honored. A tie could not have been better because I’m glad I’m not up here by myself.”
Chang owes his second career largely to an obsession with ramen noodles, which led him to Tokyo and eventually back to school for a culinary degree (his first had been in religion). By 2004, he opened his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar, and accolades piled up. New York Times critic Frank Bruni even called Chang “the New York restaurant world’s equivalent of Tiger Woods or Roger Federer.”
Kahan is at the forefront of Chicago’s increasingly robust restaurant scene. After leaving computer science, he spent years apprenticing to some of the city’s top talent, including Rick Bayless. He spun that experience into an award-winning restaurant group that includes Blackbird, Avec and The Publican, all of which reflect his own culinary obsession — sustainably sourced ingredients and close relationships with producers.
“You can’t beat Chang, but a tie is OK,” Kahan said.
The James Beard awards honor those who follow in the footsteps of Beard, considered the dean of American cooking when he died in 1985. Monday’s ceremony honored chefs and restaurants; a similar event on Friday was held for book and other media awards.
Writers Nathalie Dupree of Charleston, S.C., and Atlantan Cynthia Graubert won in the American Cooking category for their book “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking.” Dupree, in her acceptance speech Friday, referred to the South as “the new Italy.”
The foundation’s top restaurant award this year went to Dan Barber’s Blue Hill in New York City. Barber — who was the foundation’s top chef in 2009 — follows a minimalist culinary philosophy that he calls “American seasonal.” He believes exceptional ingredients should be allowed to stand on their own. A signature dish is “vegetables on a fence,” baby vegetables simply prepared and presented speared on a row of upright prongs.
