Five Philadelphia chefs, restaurateurs, and restaurants have been nominated for the James Beard Awards, the food world’s highest honor. Michael Solomonov of Zahav was nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year. We spoke to him today. Check back for more interviews and complete coverage of the Beard Awards.
You’re up against Nate Appleman of A16, Sean Brock of McCrady’s, Johnny Monis of Komi, Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, and Sue Zemanick of Gautreau’s. Who do you think is your biggest competition? What attributes do they have that you don’t?
I think most of the guys have already been nominated, so I think basically everybody. I think everybody probably has a better shot. But I think with the JBA and specifically the category rising star is a huge honor.
Have you noticed an uptick in business since the nomination?
I think so. We’ve gotten a bit busier. The weather has gotten much better since the nomination. The economy has gotten better too … it’s been a really nice spring.
If you win, how are you going to celebrate?
I’ll probably take Tuesday morning off, and then we have the wine dinner. No Disney world this time.
Which restaurants will you be checking out while in New York?
I’m going up on Monday with my wife. We really want to go to Terroir, and Corton for lunch.
Do you have favorites in New York?
The Momofuku empire is always a good time, and when we were in New York for the Esquire thing, we went to Scarpetta for dinner, which was really really good. We also went to Fette Sau, which was really good, and Blue Hill. I guess I’ve been on a BBQ kick recently. I like the Blue Ribbon Brasserie thing, it’s pretty cool to get to New York at 4 in the morning and have to wait for a table then.
Where do you like to eat and drink in Philadelphia?
Osteria and Vetri are definitely up there. Bistrot La Minette is really good. A bowl of cereal at my house is what I typically eat. Fork is really, really good. My old chef Terence Feury (from when I was at Striped Bass) is now the chef of Fork, and I just had a kick-ass dinner there the other night.
Philly Magazine just named Zahav the best restaurant in the city. How did you find out about that? What does it mean for your restaurant?
We found out about it just by looking online, because they do the little countdown thing. And what it means for our restaurant? It’s huge, it’s a huge honor. It means we’re going to have to raise the bar a lot. Philly is pretty competitive. Not negatively, but there’s a really good food scene and you always have to stay on top of things and the latest concepts.