James Beard media nominees named

The James Beard Awards are not just about chefs in white coats. A big part of the franchise is media — books, journalism, podcasts, TV — basically the people who explain food culture to everyone else. That’s the news this week: the James Beard Foundation released its 2026 Media Award nominees on Wednesday, May 6, and New Orleans showed up in a meaningful way. Several local writers and projects made the list, which puts the city in the mix before the broader June awards weekend in Chicago. ### What got announced? The Foundation named nominees across three media buckets — Book, Broadcast Media, and Journalism. These are separate from the restaurant-and-chef prizes that were announced back on March 31. Media winners will be announced on Saturday, June 13, at the Art Institute of Chicago, while the Restaurant and Chef Awards follow on Monday, June 15, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) ### Why are people in New Orleans paying attention? Because this is one of those national lists where local names can suddenly travel. Axios flagged several New Orleans authors as nominees, and the official Beard list confirms at least one especially visible one: Sue Strachan’s *The Obituary Cocktail: Iconic New Orleans Cocktails* is a nominee in Beverage without Recipes. That category is for beverage books where recipes are not the main point — more culture, history, and storytelling than how-to mixing. (jamesbeard.org) ### Why is Sue Strachan’s nomination the easy headline? Because it is concrete and very New Orleans. *The Obituary Cocktail* is about the city’s cocktail history, so it lands right at the intersection the Beard media awards like most — food or drink as culture, not just consumption. And the company it keeps is strong: the other nominees in that category are Cha McCoy with Layla Schlack for *Wine Pairing for the People* and Aldo Sohm with Christine Muhlke for *Wine Simple: Perfect Pairings*. (jamesbeard.org) ### So are these the same as the chef awards? No — and that distinction matters. The media awards honor writers, editors, producers, hosts, and publishers. The chef-and-restaurant awards honor operators and restaurants. New Orleans already has separate 2026 restaurant-side nominees, including Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski for Outstanding Restaurateur and E.J. Lagasse for Emerging Chef. That means the city is showing up on both tracks this year — the kitchen side and the storytelling side. (jamesbeard.org) ### What do the journalism awards actually cover? A lot more than restaurant reviews. The journalism side includes categories like Beverage, Columns and Newsletters, Criticism, Dining and Travel, Feature Reporting, Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication, and Foodways. In plain English, Beard is rewarding people who explain how food works in culture, politics, travel, and daily life — not just whether a plate looked good. (jamesbeard.org) ### Why does the Chicago timing matter? Because the Beard Awards compress a lot of attention into one weekend. The Foundation is holding the 2026 Media Awards at the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time, then moving into the restaurant-side events the next two days. For nominees, that creates a bigger stage — media winners are not getting announced in isolation, but as part of the same national spotlight that drives chef reputations and restaurant bookings. (jamesbeard.org) ### What’s the real takeaway here? New Orleans is usually discussed in Beard season through chefs, bars, and dining rooms. This week’s nominee list is a reminder that the city also exports food writing and drink history. That matters because awards like these help decide whose version of a place becomes the national version. ### Bottom line The immediate news is simple: the 2026 James Beard Media nominees are out, and New Orleans has skin in the game. (jamesbeard.org) The bigger point is that Beard recognition now reaches well beyond the plate — into the books and stories that shape how American food culture gets remembered.