James Beard Foundation’s 2013 Outstanding Chef Award Ends In A Tie

The James Beard Foundation Awards celebrated the finest chefs in America on Monday evening with the biggest event of the year in the culinary world. Often referred to as the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Foundation celebrates the biggest names in the cooking arts. Winners are selected by a vote of over 600 culinary arts professionals.

This year’s ceremony culminated with a huge surprise. In the end, there was a tie between David Chang of New York City and Paul Kahan of Chicago for America’s Outstanding Chef 2013, one of the foundation’s top honors. This is only the third time there has been a tie for this award since the ceremonies began in 1990. Chang and Kahan can be an inspiration for any student taking an online culinary course since neither of them originally started out as chefs. Before deciding to pursue their passions and make major career switches, Chang worked in finance and Kahan in computer science.

Both chefs have made appearances at the Beard Awards in the past with Chang receiving Rising Star Chef in 2007 and Best New Restaurant in 2009 for Momofuku Ko, and Kahan receiving a Regional Best Chef in 2004.