PRESS
The James Beard Foundation Awards – 2006 – Restaurant August wins Best Chef, Southeast.
Iron Chef America – February 2006 – Chef John Besh was the first New Orleans chef to compete against Iron Chef Mario Battali; Besh was victorious in the battle which aired on Food Network.
Gourmet - October 2006- Restaurant August named 22nd in the “Top 50 Restaurants in the United States”
Gayot - The 2006 Restaurant Issue - “Top 40 Restaurant in the U.S.”
Wine Spectator – since 2002, Restaurant August has received the “Award of Excellence.”
Santé Restaurant Culinary Hospitality Award – 2005 -- Restaurant August received the Regional Innovative Culinary Hospitality Award.
The James Beard Foundation Awards – 2005 – Restaurant August nominated for Best Chef, Southeast.
Kendall-Jackson Winery 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival – September 2004 – Chef John Besh won the Chef’s Challenge; Besh served as competition judge at festival in September 2005.
Great American Seafood Cook-Off – July 2004 – Chef John Besh crowned “King of Seafood” at competition highlighting seafood from local waters (aired April 2005 on Food Network); Besh now serves as a spokesman for the Louisiana Seafood Board.
Icelandic Naturally Food & Fun Festival Culinary Competition – February 2004 – Chef John Besh named Chef of the Year
Food & Wine – July 1999 – Chef John Besh selected as one of the “Top 10 Best New Chefs in America.”
Ratings
US Airways Magazine – January 2006 – Restaurant’s August Moroccan-spiced Duck named one of the “10 Best Tastes of the Year” by John T. Edge
USA Today – 2004 Year in Review Food – Critic Jerry Shriver declared New Orleans the Top Dining Destination of 2004, noting that in the spring he “fell in love all over again with…August…”
GQ – December 2003 – Alan Richman included Restaurant August as one of ten restaurants in article on where to eat in 2004.
Gourmet – September 2003 – Restaurant August is listed on Gourmet’s “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants.” “Just shy of its second birthday, Restaurant August is spoken of in the same breath as the city’s most distinguished institutions.”
The Times-Picayune – June 2003 – Local critic Brett Anderson rated the food at Restaurant August “superior,” claiming that Besh has “willed one of the region’s most celebrated restaurants into one of the region’s best restaurants, period.” Five red beans were awarded, making August only the second restaurant in the city to receive this honor in the past three years.
Condé Nast Traveler – May 2002 – The annual “Hot List” named the top 50 worldwide eateries of 2002 – only twelve were in the United States, and Restaurant August was one of them!
In the News
Super Seafood Grill-Off – March 2006 – Chef John Besh served as judge for Food Network competition.
Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels – February 2006 – Restaurant August was featured on episode about New Orleans in this Food Network program.
Wall Street Journal – December 2005 – recipes from Chef John Besh featured.
The Today Show – June 2006 – Chef John Besh appeared on program in live cooking segment; additional appearances in November 2005, October 2005, April 2005, and December 2003.
CNN – November 2005 – Chef John Besh featured throughout broadcast on Thanksgiving morning.
The New York Times – September 2005 – Chef John Besh featured as the city’s culinary voice in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; Besh also featured in articles on recovery in October 2005 and January 2006
All-American Tailgating Cook-Off – January 2005 – Chef John Besh served as judge for Food Network competition.
Gamibt Weekly – November 2004 – John Besh selected as one of New Orleans top residents in “Top 40 Under 40.”
Robb Report - November 2004 – Restaurant August’s penthouse called New Orleans’ best-kept dining secret.
The New York Times Magazine, “The Sophisticated Traveler” – May 2, 2004 – “…I first came down here believing that eating in New Orleans meant dinner at Antoine’s. What I discovered dining at …Restaurant August… will surprise no one who has been keeping up with the local restaurant scene: this remains a fabulous eating town, right up there with New York and San Francisco and maybe superior to either…”
Food & Wine – February 2004 – In her feature on New Orleans, Julia Reed reveals that she prefers to dine at “lovely August, where I invariably order gnocchi with crab and white truffle, or whatever wonderful thing [John Besh] is doing to his impeccable house-smoked salmon.”
Zagat – rated highest for food and service in New Orleans, the latest guide says John Besh may be the “hottest talent in New Orleans,” and refers to his “exquisite”, “imaginative but not too precious “ New French cuisine”; noting that Restaurant August is “a destination unto itself.”
Travel + Leisure – November 2003 – In Travel + Leisure’s feature, “40 Great Places to Spend the Holidays,” John Besh is cited as the “chef at one of [New Orleans’] top tables.”
