James Beard Awards Await

Roughly the dining out equivalent of The Academy Awards, The James Beard Foundation annual awards ceremony takes place Monday, May 7, at the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. The talented Monica Pope of Houston's Tafia is among the five nominees for Best Chef: Southwest. Go to www.jamesbeard.org for the complete list, but here's a partial list of national nominees:

-- Outstanding Restaurant: Boulevard, San Francisco; Frontera Grill, Chicago; Magnolia Grill, Durham, N.C., Picholine, New York; Spiaggia, Chicago.
-- Best New Restaurant: A Voce, New York City; Chochon, New Orleans; Cut, Beverly Hill, Calif; L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, New York City; Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York City; Restaurant Guy Savoy, Las Vegas.
-- Outstanding Restaurateur: Thomas Keller, The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif; Keith McNally, Balthazar, New York City; Richard Melman, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (R.J. Grunts, Wildfire, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!), Chicago; Drew Nieporent, Myriad Restaurant Group (Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Rubicon), New York City; Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean Georges restaurant, New York City.
-- Outstanding Chef: Tom Colicchio, Craft, New York City; Lee Hefter, Spago, Beverly Hills, Calif.; Jean Joho, Everest, Chicago; Paul Kahan, Blackbird, Chicago; Michel Richard, Michel Richard Citronelle, Washington, D.C.
-- Rising Star Chef: Nate Appleman, A16, San Francisco; Graham Elliot Bowles, Avenues at The Peninsula Hotel, Philadelphia; David Chang, Momofuku Noodle Bar, New York; Patrick Connelly, Radius, Boston; Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park, New York City.

Restaurant magazine just released its list of the world's top 100 restaurants. (http://www.theworlds50best.com/2007_list.html) Here are the U.S. entries:

The French Laundry, Yountville, Ca. (No. 4)
Per Se, New York City (No. 9)
Jean Georges, New York City (No. 18)
Le Bernardin, New York City (No. 26)
Charlie Trotter's, Chicago (No. 30)
Daniel, New York City (No. 32)
Alinea, Chicago (No. 36)
Chez Panisse, Berkeley, Ca. (No. 40)
Masa, New York City (No. 56)
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the Four Seasons, New York City (No. 64)
Peter Lugar, Brooklyn, NY (No. 69)
Nobu New York, New York City (No. 89)
Gramercy Tavern, New York City (No. 90)
WD-50, New York City (No. 91)
Zuni Café, San Francisco (No. 98)
Alex at Wynn, Las Vegas (No. 100)

IN THE NEWS: Recent openings include: The upscale-casual VIN, 530 Texas Avenue in Bayou Place (www.vinhouston.com). Read some early reports at www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/restaurants/reviews and at foodinhouston.blogspot.com ... The Houston Press restaurant critic Robb Walsh’s new The Texas Cowboy Cookbook is reviewed in the Fort Worth Weekly (www.fwweekly.com). Walsh latest review is Alice's Diner, 4670 Beechnut, while colleague Paul Galvani rhapsodizes about the Brie sandwich at Salento, 2407 Rice ... The Chronicle's Alison Cook's Cook's tour blog takes on TacoXpress (blogs.chron.com/cookstour). Colleague Ken Hoffman's Drive-Through Gourmet details the new waffle cones at Dairy Queen. (www.chron.com) ... My Table magazine reviews Oceanaire Seafood Room, Cova, and Max’s Wine Dive in its April/May issue. The dining mag's Table Talk column notes the demise of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's partnership with Hotel Icon's well-regarded Bank restaurant, as former Bank chef Bryan Caswell was to open The Reef Seafood House sometime this spring. Noteworthy openings from My Table: Craiganale's Little Italy; Fish City Grill, 5172 Buffalo Speedway at Westpark; The Goose Acre's Bistro & Irish Pub, 21 Waterway Ave., The Woodlands; The Grilling Station, 3816 S. Shepherd; Picazo's Restaurant Bar & Grill, 1421 Preston; Polo's Signature, 3800 Southwest Freeway; Salud! Winery, 3939 Montrose; Taverna Winery, 12820 Highway 105 West, Conroe; Tony Thai, 10613 Bellaire; and Yatra Brasserie, 706 Main St. Closings: River Oaks Grill, 2630 Westheimer; Baroque, 1700 Sunset Blvd.; Rockin' Baja Lobster, 9717 FM 1960 Bypass E, Humble; Taj Majal, 8328 Gulf Freeway; and Teriyaki House, 2320 S. Shepherd. ... HTexas magazine (www.htexas.com) reviews Café le Jadeite, 1952 W. Gray.