I'm Rooting For Everyone Black at The James Beard Awards®.
I'm showing love to the Black 2025 Restaurant, Impact, and Lifetime Achievement James Beard Award winners!
The James Beard Awards® recently announced their 2025 Achievement Awards, which consists of three different honors: the Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year Awards, both administered by the Awards Committee, and the Impact Awards, administered by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees Impact Committee. They also announced their 2025 Restaurant and Chef Award Nominees but I just want to focus on the non-restaurant related awards today.
Black at The James Beard Awards®.
Toni, Toni, Toni!
Starting with the Life-Time Achievement Awards, the Awards Committee selected Toni Tipton-Martin. A pioneer in all aspects of food journalism, in addition to owning the largest collection of Black authored cookbooks in the world (as far as I know), she was also the first African American woman to serve as food editor of a major daily newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Her resume is too long to list here but when I tell you that there isn’t a person on earth who deserves this award more than her, I mean it.
FUN FACT: The first time I met Toni was in Baltimore. I was getting ready to introduce myself and she stopped me and said, “I know who you are!” Then we went on to have a conversation about her views on social media and influencers and a bunch of other food-related issues. To be honest, I don’t remember much of the conversation, because I was too busy internally screaming ”Toni Tipton-Martin knows who I am? Toni Tipton-Martin knows who I am!!!” Imagine being a new NBA player, meeting Michael Jordan for the first time, and he tells you that he was familiar with your game! It’s was like that but with food.
And in an effort to give Toni her flowers while she can smell them, I made a #BlackFoodFact video about her and her work, last year. That’s how much I love and respect this woman’s work. Her determination and sacrifices made it so people, like me, can do what I do.
Eat Your Okra!
For the inaugural Impact Awards, two Black people were honored: Seanicaa Edwards Herron and Anthony Edwards, Jr. Per the JBF: “The Impact Awards recognize change-makers actively working to push for standards that create a more equitable, sustainable, and economically viable restaurant industry and food system for producers, workers, and consumers alike.” I don’t know Seanicca (yet) but it’s clear, after reading her bio, that she’s making a huge difference.
As for Anthony, co-founder of EatOkra, we connected a few years ago and have been locked in ever sense (even after he smoked me at Top Golf). For the uninitiated, EatOkra is an award-winning app Anthony created with his wife, Janique Edwards that connecting over 600,000 food lovers directly to Black-owned restaurants, caterers, and food trucks. In the last few years, EatOkra has started expanding into more real world events. For example, I had the pleasure of hosting their inaugural Culinary Creatives Conference, in New York City. I couldn’t be happier for Ant! He and his wife have been nothing but kind to me since we met.
If you’re interested in learning more about Anthony, his feelings around receiving this award, and what this means for the future of EatOkra, join me for a LIVE conversation with him on April 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM EST. A link to register for this talk will be sent to my TASTE BUDS (paid subscribers to my newsletter), later this week.
Not one of my TASTE BUDS, yet? No worries! You can try it out for 14 days. Last month, I met with my TASTE BUDS to discuss the growth and direction behind Black Food Fridays and someone (s/o to Jerome) won a cookbook! It’s only $5/month but with conversations like the one I’m having with Anthony combined with random giveaways, I aim to make the return on your investment worth every penny. I hope you’ll join me!
Other Black People I’m Rooting For!
Shout out to Cassandra Felix, finalist for a new award called “Outstanding Professional in Beverage Services”. She’s been in the wine game for a minute but most recently, in 2023, Cassandra received The Hue Society’s Sommelier of The Year award (I’m a fan of the work The Hue Society is doing). Currently, she guides diners through their wine journey at Chef Daniel Boulud's eponymous 2-Michelin Star Restaurant, Daniel.
I don’t think I missed anyone but, if I did, please drop a comment and let me know. And please, enjoy the rest of you Sunday!
» KJ «
I'm not, I won't go to a black owned restaurant! To many racist go to them!