Beard nominations

Delaware natives Tom Douglas and Rebekah Denn are among the 52 finalists for 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards, which honor professionals in the food and beverage industries.

St. Mark's High School graduate Tom Douglas of Tom Douglas Restaurants in Seattle is one of the nominees for Outstanding Restaurateur. (Photo to the right of Douglas was taken at last year's Meals from the Masters Celebrity Chefs' Brunch in Wilmington.)

Douglas is competing against Stephen Starr of the Starr Restaurant Organization in Philadelphia; New York's Keith McNally and Drew Nieporent; and Richard Melman of Chicago's Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Denn, sister of Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, has been honored for best Newspaper Feature Writing with Recipes for a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article "High on the Hairy Hogs: Super-Succulent Imports are Everything U.S. Pork Isn't." Here's link to Denn's blog, Eatallaboutit.com.

Philadelphia's chef/restaurateur Jose Garces is a best Mid-Atlantic Chef finalist. (Chefs Jay Caputo of Espuma/Porcini House in Rehoboth Beach, and Michael DiBianca of Wilmington's Moro were semifinalists in this category.)

A Rising Chef nominee is Michael Solomonov of Zahav in Philadelphia.

Vetri in Philadelphia, owned by Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin, has been nominated for Outstanding Service.

Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, owner of Seattle's Harvest Vine eatery and a frequent guest at Wilmington's annual Meals from the Master's Celebrity Chefs' Brunch (see below), was nominated for Best Northwest chef.

The awards will be presented May 3-4 in New York. For a complete list of nominees, visit www.jamesbeard.org.

Douglas and Jimenez also both will be returning to cook at this year's Celebrity Chefs' Brunch, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 19 at the Bank of America headquarters, 1100 N. King St., Wilmington.

Tickets for the Meals on Wheels fundraiser are $175. Visit www.mealsfromthemasters.com.