Oxford Chef Nominated for 2009 James Beard Award

For the fourth time in five years, City Grocery chef John Currence has received a nomination for the "Best Chef, South" category of the James Beard Awards. The awards, also known as the Academy Awards of the cooking world, are considered by many to be the highest honor a chef can be given.

"This is an incredible honor," says Currence. "But It has everything to do with my staff--it's really about them. Of course it's incredibly flattering to be nominated, I just wish the nomination carried the name of the restaurant rather than just my name. This has been a tough but satisfying year at all three places, and everyone has carried the ball equally."

The Awards Ceremony will be held at the Lincoln Center in New York on Monday, May 4, 2009. Other area locals recognized this year are John T. Edge, who will be inducted into the Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, and Martha Foose for her cookbook Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook.