Voting began today for Tablespoon.com’s first ever Munchies Awards: People’s Choice Food Awards. Voting ends on April 30th. The 2012 nominees, both household and “under-the-radar” names, were selected by a panel of 13 culinary experts lead by Andrew Zimmern. The panel consisted of culinary writers, chefs, one supermodel chef, and the mysterious twitter personality, Ruth Bourdain.
Due to the selection of both well-known and underground nominees there is a strange but intriguing mix running for the same award. For example, in the “Best Pizza” category, New Haven’s local favorite, Pepe’s, is in the running with Mario Batali’s Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. Pepe’s has been family-owned since 1925 while Mario Batali is a culinary superstar known the world over. Surely, it will be interesting to see who outshines their competition in the eyes of the public with such varying levels of publicity and branding.
The votes cast by devout food lovers will determine the winners in twenty categories such as Favorite Food Reality TV Show, Most Inspiring Food Visionary, Coolest Coffee Shop, and Best Local Farmers Market. Besides celebrating the nominees and food, Tablespoon and The Munchies are fighting hunger. On the behalf of participating voters and panel, The Munchies Award will be donating $15,000 to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.
Here are this year's nominees:
Terrific Tastemakers
Favorite Food Reality TV Show
o “Chopped” (Food Network)
o “Cupcake Wars” (Food Network)
o “Iron Chef America” (Food Network)
o “The Great Food Truck Race” (Food Network)
o “Top Chef” (Bravo)
Favorite Food TV Personality
o Andrew Zimmern, “Bizarre Foods” (Travel Channel)
o Bobby Flay, “Food Network Star” (Food Network)
o Mario Batali, “The Chew” (ABC)
o Padma Lakshmi, “Top Chef” (Bravo)
o Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” (Bravo)
Favorite Food Related Magazine
o Bon Appétit
o FOOD & WINE
o Food Network Magazine
o Lucky Peach
o Saveur
Favorite Food Blog
o 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson
o David Lebovitz, David Lebovitz
o Homesick Texan, Lisa Fain
o Poor Man’s Feast, Elissa Altman
o The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond
Most Newsworthy Cookbook
o Food52 Cookbook, Amanda Hesser & Merrill Stubbs
o Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys, David Tanis
o Primal Cuts, Marissa Guggiana
o Ruhlman’s Twenty, Michael Ruhlman
o The Art of Living According to Joe Beef, David McMillan, Fredric Morin & Meredith Erickson
Best Food Podcast or Radio Show
o “Edible Radio”
o “Good Food” (KCRW)
o “Mike & Tom Eat Snacks!” (Nerdist)
o “NPR: Food” (NPR)
o “The Splendid Table” (American Public Media)
Best Chef
o April Bloomfield, The Spotted Pig, New York, NY
o Daniel Boulud, Daniel NYC, New York, NY
o David Chang, Momofuku, New York, NY
o Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin, New York, NY
o Thomas Keller, The French Laundry, Yountville, CA
Most Inspiring Food Visionary
o Alice Waters, The Edible Schoolyard Project
o Dan Barber, Blue Hill Farm
o Jamie Oliver, Food Revolution
o Michelle Obama, Let’s Move
o Will Allen, Growing Power
Best Bites
Most Iconic Burger
o Cheeseburger, Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien, New York, NY
o Double Double Animal Style, In-N-Out Burger, Irvine, CA
o Double Shackburger, Shake Shack, New York, NY
o Green Chile Cheeseburger, Bobcat Bite, Santa Fe, NM
o Jucy Lucy, Matt’s Bar, Minneapolis, MN
Best Pizza
o Frank Pepe Pizzeria, New Haven, CT
o Giordano’s, Chicago, IL
o Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, Brooklyn, NY
o Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, AZ
o Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles, CA
Best Taco
o Big Star, Chicago, IL
o Kogi BBQ Truck, Los Angeles, CA
o La Condesa, Austin, TX
o Loteria Grill, Los Angeles, CA
o Torchy’s Tacos, Austin, TX
Best Cookie
o Chocolate Sable, Miette, San Francisco, CA
o Coconut Macaroon, Salty Tart Bakery, Minneapolis, MN
o Compost Cookie®, Momofuku Milk Bar, New York, NY
o Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie, Levain Bakery, New York, NY
o Macaroons, Kee’s Chocolates, New York, NY
Best Ice Cream
o Amy’s Ice Creams, Austin, TX
o Bi-Rite Creamery, San Francisco, CA
o Humphry Slocombe, San Francisco, CA
o Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Columbus, OH
o Thomas Sweet, Princeton, NJ
Best Food Truck
o Big Gay Ice Cream, New York, NY
o Kogi BBQ Truck, Los Angeles, CA
o Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, Austin, TX
o Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, New York, NY
o Wafels & Dinges, New York, NY
Delicious Destinations
Best Local Farmers Market
o Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco, CA
o Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA
o Portland Farmers Market, Portland, OR
o Santa Monica Farmers Market, Santa Monica, CA
o Union Square Greenmarket, New York, NY
Favorite Stadium Eats
o Crazy Crab’z Dungeness Crab Sandwich, AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA
o Ivar Dog, Safeco Field, Seattle, WA
o Shack-Cago Dog, Citi Field, New York, NY
o Sweet Victory Peach Cobbler, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
o Tony Luke’s Cheesesteak, Citizen’s Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Coolest Coffee Shop
o Café Grumpy, New York, NY
o Intelligentsia Coffee, Chicago, IL
o Joe, New York, NY
o Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Berkeley, CA
o Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Portland, OR
Best Craft Brewery
o Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY
o Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
o Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
o Sixpoint Craft Ales, Brooklyn, NY
o Summit Brewing Co., St. Paul, MN
Most Intriguing Cocktail Bar
o La Belle Vie, Minneapolis, MN
o Monkey Bar, New York, NY
o Prime Meats, Brooklyn, NY
o The Aviary, Chicago, IL
o The Violet Hour, Chicago, IL
Favorite Gluten-Free Bakery
o BabyCakes NYC, New York, NY
o Bittersweet Bakery, Eagan, MN
o Defloured, Chicago, IL
o Mariposa Baking, Oakland, CA
o Tu-Lu’s Gluten-Free Bakery, New York, NY
To cast your vote and learn more about the nominees, visit the Taplespoon website.
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