Maguy Le Coze, from Le Bernardin. Image courtesy of Le Bernardin.

Maguy Le Coze wins Outstanding Restaurateur

French-born New Yorker receives James Beard award for her work at Le Bernardin which she opened in 1986

While many restaurateurs hanker after a good newspaper review, Maguy Le Coze could take a more relaxed attitude towards this year's James Beard Foundation Awards. Though this ceremony – named after the late great American chef and food writer – are widely regarded as the food industry's Oscars, Le Coze has collected her fair share of gongs in the past.

Le Bernardin, the Manhattan seafood restaurant she founded with her brother, the late chef Gilbert Le Coze, in 1986, has been listed in The World's 50 Best Restaurants, won the maximum three Michelin stars, held a maximum four-star rating from The New York Times since its inception, and was, this year, rated the best place to eat in New York by The Zagat Survey. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see she was given the medal for Outstanding Restaurateur at the awards ceremony, held on Monday night at The Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, NYC.

Le Bernardin, New York
Le Bernardin, New York

As Le Coze herself explains in our book, The Art of The Restaurateur, “nothing comes overnight” and her career trajectory, from the granddaughter of a Breton fisherman to one of the wisest, most-talented and most widely respected professionals within the culinary arts is both charming and instructive. Congratulations, Maguy.

To find out more about the awards, go here, and to learn more about Le Coze and her compatriots, please take a look at The Art of The Restaurateur, Nicholas Lander's fascinating account of the men and women outside the kitchens who make great restaurants.