Bravo for the Beard Awards!

David Chang, Daniel Boulud, Dan Barber and Jean-Georges Vongerichten were among the big winners at last night's James Beard Awards, held at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The glittering evening, known to avid restaurant-goers as the Oscars of the food world, drew the industry's best an brightest for an evening of peer recognition and, of course, good eating.

Show hosts Cat Cora, Emeril Lagasse and actor Stanley Tucci did an admirable job of keeping the proceedings moving, but much like the Academy Awards, the Beard show is infamous for running long and dry. Still, enduring the speeches is always a small price to pay for the post-awards reception and after-parties. In keeping with the theme of this year's show, Women in Food, the reception featured the culinary creations of some of the nation's leading women chefs, including Lidia Bastianich, Anita Lo, Michelle Bernstein, Carrie Nahabedian and Jennifer Petrusky.

Once they moved on from Lincoln Center, guests, nominees and winners had their pick of after-parties, with the more ambitious foodies packing in several stops. New York Insider briefly checked out Bar Boulud (conveniently located across the street from Lincoln Center) before heading to Nobu 57, where Drew Nieporent was hosting a Champagne and sushi celebration. We then decamped to the Modern, where the booze was flowing, though there was not a nibble to be had. Other revelers headed downtown to Mario Batali's Otto or to Terroir, in the East Village.

All in all, it was a night of great fun and redkindled friendships—as is always the case when the hospitality world pulls out all of its stops.

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Bubbly Goodness

Could there be any more promising combination than fine food, sparkling wine and the beach? New York chef Tom Colicchio clearly doesn't think so. As the presider of tonight's Perrier-Jouët Bubble-Q, the man who brought the world the Craft brand of restaurants helped throw one of South Beach Wine & Food's most popular events. In a tent on the beach due east of the the famed pool of the Delano Hotel, guests tossed back Champagne and canapés as they mingled among some of the food world's biggest names. Title sponsor Perrier Jouët made certain that glasses stayed full throughout the evening and chefs such as Marcus Samuelsson, John Tesar, Clay Conley, Rick Bayless and Paul Bartolotta helped ensure that patron's plates were always full as well. If the night's partygoers minded getting sand in their shoes as they walked from stand to stand, their faces surely didn't show it.

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