Restaurants & Institutions Announces 2008 Ivy Award Winners

CHICAGO – Restaurants & Institutions magazine has announced the recipients of its 38th annual Ivy Awards, one of the oldest and most-coveted accolades in the foodservice industry.

By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 2/21/2008

CHICAGO – Restaurants & Institutions magazine has announced the recipients of its 38th annual Ivy Awards, one of the oldest and most-coveted accolades in the foodservice industry. Six operations that embody the Ivy standards for excellence in food and service will be inducted into the Ivy Society in Chicago on May 18, 2008. This year’s recipients will be honored at a gala Ivy Awards Celebration and Dinner held at The Field Museum, an event that coincides with the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show.

In keeping with Ivy Society tradition, this year’s recipients were nominated for consideration by past Ivy winners. The six winners then were chosen by the readers of R&I through a ballot in the magazine’s January issue.

“This year’s Ivy Awards class is a distinguished group of outstanding foodservice operations that deserve the accolades they are receiving from their colleagues,” said Scott Hume, editor-in-chief of Restaurants & Institutions.

The 2008 Ivy Awards will be presented to:

Alinea, Chicago

• Since it opened in 2005, Chef-owner Grant Achatz’s intimate restaurant has been an internationally acclaimed culinary destination. His creative and boldly innovative preparations redefine American cuisine.

Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Las Vegas

• Already renowned for Bacchus, Lake Park Bistro and Bartolotta Restaurant Group’s other Milwaukee restaurants, Chef Paul Bartolotta moved west in 2005, partnering with Steve Wynn to open this elegant restaurant in the Wynn Las Vegas. Classic Italian technique and the freshest fish and seafood make for unforgettable dining experiences.

Hotel Healdsburg, Healdsburg, Calif.

• Chef Charlie Palmer and co-owners John Holt, Paolo Patrone and Merritt Sher celebrate the senses at this North Sonoma County retreat that offers luxury accommodations, a spa and the Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, which celebrates the area’s bounty of foods and wines. Charlie Palmer’s Aureole restaurant in New York City was an Ivy winner in 1997.

Per Se, New York City

• The menu changes daily at Chef-owner Thomas Keller’s stylish and sophisticated dining room in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, but the commitment to quality ingredients and impeccable service never varies. Thomas Keller, too, is a previous Ivy Award winner: his The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., was honored by colleagues in 1996.

Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, Plano, Texas

• Healthcare foodservice is changing, and Presbyterian Hospital of Plano has been a longtime leader in that evolution. Its Five Star Dining program, which elevates food-quality standards and adapts room-service-style operations, has been studied and embraced by many others in the field.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.

• With multiple dining stations replacing cafeteria lines, introduction of global cuisines, guest-chef programs and commitments to local food sourcing and support for sustainable farming, UMass-Amherst is a model for contemporary campus foodservice. The university’s dining-service department is educating students about health, nutrition and environmental responsibility while introducing them to a world of foods and flavors.

The selection of this year’s Ivy Awards winners began when representatives from previous Ivy-winning operations—which include such notables as “21” Club in New York City, Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, Commander’s Palace in New Orleans and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.—were invited to nominate restaurants, hotels and noncommercial operations that they believe exemplify the Ivy standards of excellence. Nominees appeared on a ballot in Restaurants & Institutions’ January 2008 issue, and the magazine’s 140,000 readers were allowed to cast votes for their choices.

This year’s Ivy honorees will be profiled in the May 1, 2008, issue of Restaurants & Institutions.