Satterfield, Blais Named James Beard Award Finalists

Patch Staff Report

Chef Steven Satterfield of Westside Atlanta's Miller Union was named a finalist on Tuesday for “Best Chef: Southeast” in the 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards.

Also named a finalist was Atlanta ex-pat Richard Blais for his cookbook, Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate, in the "Cookbook: General Cooking" category.

Covering all aspects of the industry—from chefs and restaurateurs to cookbook authors and food journalists to restaurant designers and architects and more—the Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals working in North America.

This year’s James Beard Award finalists were selected by an independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges across the country.

Satterfield’s finalist nomination recognizes him as a chef who has set new or consistent standards of excellence in the Southeast region, along with Kathy Cary of Lilly’s in Louisville, Ky.; Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, N.C.; Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky.; and Tandy Wilson from City House in Nashville, Tenn.

A Georgia native who spent his childhood in Savannah, Satterfield partnered with co-owner Neal McCarthy in 2009 to open Miller Union, a sophisticated Southern restaurant offering sustainable and locally sourced cuisine. Satterfield incorporates his grandmother’s simple approach to cooking, canning, preserving and using local ingredients in his culinary philosophy and also continues to develop deep connections with local growers, dairies and producers to curate the best ingredients the South has to offer.

As a member of Slow Food Atlanta, Georgia Organics and the Southern Foodways Alliance, Satterfield is actively engaged with Atlanta’s progressive culinary community. In 2011 and 2012, Satterfield was nominated for Food & Wine magazine’s “People’s Best New Chef,” following Miller Union’s placement on the “Best New Restaurants in America” lists from Bon Appetit and Esquire, as well as Atlanta Magazine’s “Restaurant of the Year” in 2010.

The James Beard Foundation recognized Miller Union as a semifinalist for the national award of best new restaurant in 2010 and recognized Steven Satterfield as a nominee for “Best Chef: Southeast” in 2013.

2014 James Beard Foundation Award winners, including the winner of “Best Chef: Southeast,” will be announced on Monday, May 5, 2014, at an awards ceremony held in New York’s Lincoln Center.

Satterfield will collaborate with chef Anne Quatrano of Star Provisions and Bacchanalia on the menu for the 2014 James Beard Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards on Friday, May 2, at New York’s Gotham Hall.