Erwan Heussaff's FEATR, Abi Marquez, Abi Balingit nominated at 2024 James Beard Awards
Three Filipino chefs and food enthusiasts are nominated in the 2024 James Beard Awards, also known as the culinary world's Oscars.
Abi Balingit, the Filipino-American woman behind The Dusky Kitchen blog, was one of this year's nominees in the Baking and Desserts category for her cookbook, Mayumu: Filipino-American Desserts Remixed.
On Instagram, Balingit shared the good news, saying she didn't expect to be part of the nominees.
"LITERALLY CRYING thank you so much @beardfoundation for the Baking and Desserts cookbook nomination for #MAYUMU!!! Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen for me," she wrote in the caption.
In case you didn't know, Balingit is a New York-based baker who made waves during the pandemic "by selling pasalubong treat boxes filled with incredibly imaginative Filipino-inspired desserts and donating the proceeds to help those impacted by COVID-19."
Meanwhile, internet personality and food content creator Abi Marquez, known as "Lumpia Queen," is nominated for the James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award under the Social Media Account category.
According to the website, the said category "recognizes excellence in a food-related social media account or platform" that "covers non-fiction works in English covering food and beverage topics appearing widely for the first time in the United States."
Marquez, who has over three million followers on TikTok, recently emerged victorious at the 28th Annual Webby Awards where she was named the People's Voice Winner in the General Social: Food & Drink Category.
She shares the win with America's Test Kitchen from Cook's Illustrated Magazine, a cooking show that's currently co-hosted by Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster
Marquez is known for her experimental lumpia recipes, where she tries to cook with fillings that you won't usually put inside a lumpia wrapper, such as peach mango pie and ice cream.
On the other hand, Filipino media company FEATR has three works nominated in Broadcast Media Award categories: two under Visual Media-Long Form and one under Docuseries Visual Media.
FEATR, which was founded by Erwan Heusaff, is a digital video channel from The Fat Kid Inside Studios. It is "dedicated to food, travel, Filipino culture, and telling better stories over a hot meal." The YouTube channel also featured instructions on recipes, cooking competitions, travel shows, features and documentaries, with the aim "to unite people through essential human needs: connection and food."
In June 2023, Heusaff won a James Beard award in the social media category for his Instagram account @erwan along with chef Tim Flores and chef Margarita Lorenzana-Maske.
Established in 1990, the award was named after the late American chef who pioneered television cooking shows, mentored generations of chefs, wrote over 20 books on cooking, and whose efforts elevated American cuisine to its global status.
The James Beard Awards on its website says it aims to “recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.”