Graceful Losers

Wylie Dufresne Doesn’t Really Mind Never Winning a Beard Award

Good luck on Monday!
Good luck on Monday!

Wylie Dufresne may be in the middle of overhauling his menu at wd~50, but he’s also up for the Best New York Chef award at Monday night’s James Beard gala. What does the chef, who’s been nominated six years in a row (not to mention past nods for Rising Star Chef and Best New Restaurant) but has never won, think? “Being nominated for half a decade as one of the five best chefs in New York is a great accomplishment, and in many ways, is a greater accomplishment than winning it the first or second time and being out of the dialogue,” he told Grub Street. “In a way, I think it would be a far greater accomplishment to go an entire decade of being nominated without winning.”

Wylie Dufresne Doesn’t Really Mind Never Winning a Beard Award