Not Everyone Can Carry the Weight of the World
But an Unexpected James Beard Award Nomination Can (Temporarily) Brighten Your Day
Not Everyone Can Carry the Weight of the World
“The Hidden Hospitality Hazards When You’re Too Big For the Bar” was published on VinePair one year ago today, and yesterday I received the unexpected news that it’s been nominated for a James Beard Journalism Award for “Personal Essay.” (A shout-out and congratulations to my fellow category nominees, Luke Pyenson and Mosab Abu Toha.) This is my third James Beard Award nomination and my first Journalism nomination. My debut book Bitters won the award for “Beverage” in 2012, and my book Last Call was a finalist in the “Beverage with Recipes” category in 2020.
I submitted it for consideration last November but neglected to mark my calendar, or more likely blocked out, that the James Beard Media Award nominations were to be revealed yesterday. It was truly better off that way as rather than refreshing a browser all morning with inevitable disappointment, I was up the block at The Long Island Bar occupied with a photo shoot with photographer Ed Anderson and Toby Cecchini.
Ed has been in town all week on a photoshoot for new cookbook and since he had a day off he was free to shoot a half-dozen cocktail pick-up shots and some updated author photos of yours truly for Drinking Italian. Even with our typical guerrilla-style approach and minimal gear I always forgot how long it can take to properly photograph one drink. Food photos visually spark an instant reaction—that looks delicious, I would crush that right now, that must smell amazing.
Drinks on their own can be a bit more static and don’t readily reveal their ingredients and components on sight alone. A lot of thought has to go into the selection of glassware, the location and lighting of where to shoot in the bar, testing various angles, subtle tweaks to garnishes, how the ice reads through the glass, desired condensation, all in the hope a future reader of the book sees the final photo and desires to have a sip or is inspired to make the drink at home. Having a pro like Toby on hand to not only stir up each of these Italian-inspired cocktails but also lend a hand in styling was a boon to the whole process.
