storyApril 3, 2024anunci
For the first time ever, a Delaware chef is a finalist in the Best Chef category at the prestigious James Beard Awards – the largest and most prestigious awards in the American restaurant world, often referred to as the “Oscars of food.”
Matthew Kern, the chef and co-owner of One Coastal on Fenwick Island, will be the first Delaware chef in the 34-year history of the James Beard Awards to be named a finalist in a culinary category. He will be one of five chefs competing for the title of best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Reached just minutes after the Beard finalists were announced, Kern still couldn't believe he was the first Delaware chef to receive such an honor.
“I’m just in awe,” he said after a few unprintable exclamations. “I’m still at a loss for words.”
Kern had previously received two Beard nominations but never a finalist nomination at his previous restaurant, Heirloom, which Delaware Online/The News Journal food writer Patricia Talorico called perhaps the best restaurant in the state was at the top.
Kern and his wife, Karen, purchased the One Coastal farm-to-table site in 2022 and dedicated it to the bounty of agriculture in Sussex County, which he now fears could be threatened by the region's own popularity. The Beard nominations followed him to One Coastal just a year later.
“I’m just so proud of my team,” Kern said. “Even when I didn’t believe in myself, they did. My wife totally believed it, so she forced me to find a restaurant.”
He stops and laughs at the unlikely path that led him here.
Delaware has had a sometimes distant relationship with the James Beard Awards
Kern's One Coastal restaurant is a farm-to-table outpost on the headland of Fenwick Island, just 1,000 feet from the Maryland border and about the same distance from the ocean.
He acknowledges that coastal and southern Delaware may not be on the target list for most James Beard jurors unless they like the beach.
“We’re really out of the way,” he said, “and not considered a culinary destination by most people’s standards.”
That's not to say that Delaware hasn't had success at the awards shows.
The News Journal's Patricia Talorico has been nominated for multiple James Beard Awards as a writer. Sam Calagione of craft beer pioneer Dogfish Head was nominated for seven consecutive years before winning the award for Best Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional in 2017. And the late Matt Haley of SoDel Concepts won a humanitarian award in 2014 for his work working in both Delaware and Nepal.
But finalist spots for major culinary awards have long been denied to Delaware chefs, long since off the beaten path of nationally traveling foodies. To date, no Delaware chef has been a finalist in the Mid-Atlantic Cooking Competition or in any major national culinary category.
That is, until this year.
More: Medal or not, a James Beard nomination is still a win for Delaware chefs and culinary professionals
Kern credits the restaurant's success to One Coastal's commitment to East Coast farms
But that distance off the beaten path and proximity to the farms that grow the food he serves is exactly why Kern believes his restaurant has been successful.
Kern is dedicated to the agricultural wealth of the East Coast and beyond: farms like East View Farms in nearby Frankford and Chesterfield Heirlooms in Maryland, just over the border.
“The idea is to support responsible local agriculture, get more restaurants to buy from local farms and showcase the seasons,” Kern told Delaware Online/The News Journal in January when he received his semifinalist approval. His dedication to these farms and the quality of those ingredients adds flavor to his food, but also makes him a better cook, Kern said.
“It would be 100 percent honest to say that I think you're a better cook if you use less,” he said. “To think, 'Well, this is what's being offered and what can I do with it?' As opposed to ordering whatever you want and sprinkling truffles on everything.
For now, that means he's harvesting kale and baby chard, edible flowers and some spring carrots. He wonders what else he can do with beets.
“I love beets, but you can’t do much with them,” he says. But learning is what will make the restaurant better. The result at Heirloom was nothing short of eye-opening for Delaware Online food writer Patricia Talorico, prompting her to call Kern “simply one of the most talented chefs in the state” after a stop last year, specifically citing an inventive turnip and blueberry salad , topped with pecan crumble and whipped mascarpone.
“A humble approach to food can never be a bad thing,” said Kern.
He is eagerly looking forward to flying with his wife to the awards ceremony in Chicago on June 10, where the winners will be announced. He hopes he will be among them.
But most important, he said, is the attention it could bring to Delaware farmers, whose land he fears is at risk from rapid growth that has caused Sussex County's population to skyrocket in recent years.
“Somebody has to stand up for the farms,” said Kern, who said he was encouraged to see more restaurants in southern Delaware embracing slow food and local farms.
“If we don’t protect the farms we left behind, we won’t have anything special left here that we need to protect and what we come here to do,” Kern said. “The beaches are beautiful, but the charm of Delaware is that it is an agricultural state.”
Here are the rest of the regional James Beard nominees
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Tony Conte, Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, Darnestown, MD
Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA
Matt Kern, One Coastal, Fenwick Island, DE
Harley Peet, Bas Rouge, Easton, MD
Kevin Tien, Moon Rabbit, Washington, DC
Additionally, Muhammed Abdul-Habdi of Philadelphia will receive a leadership award from Down North Pizza in North Philly. West Philly's Vietnam Restaurant received an America's Classics award. Clavel Mezcaleria in Baltimore was nominated for Outstanding Bar.
Matthew Korfhage is a business and features reporter in the Delaware region, covering all things land, money and often food. Send tips and insults to [emailprotected].
