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James Beard loves LA, a little

The James Beard Foundation award nominations (the Nobel Prizes of food) are out today. And two out of three nominated cookbooks "From a Professional Point of View" are from chefs who've made their names in Los Angeles: Nobu Now from Nobu Matsuhisa and Sunday Suppers at Lucques by softspoken Suzanne Goin. Together the books total just about $50, which is less than you'd pay to eat in either place.
In fact, those two chefs get most of the Beard Foundation love for the city, in a couple of different categories. Nobu is nominated for the big huge hotshot award, Outstanding Chef, for Matsuhisa on La Cienega. Goin gets a regional best chefs nod and one for outstanding service for Lucques on Melrose. Not a bad combo at all.
UPDATE: We criminally overlooked Providence on Melrose, which is up for a whopper of an award — Best New Restaurant. And Jonathan Gold, who won last year, is nominated again in the newspaper restaurant review category.
Other Angelenos are Patina, which is nominated for the best wine service award, and that Puckster Wolfgang for his chain of restuarants. But the Beard noms list Wolfgang Puck's official address in Las Vegas, so we can focus on claiming Nobu Matsuhisa and Suzanne Goin and Providence and Jonathan Gold as our own.
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