One for the small guys - Why a James Beard nomination

Two food/travel writers have been lobbying for us to get a nomination for a James Beard award for Best Chef in the Southwest. At risk of appearing cocky I wanted to share my thoughts on why we're deserving of consideration.

Overview
The Curious Kumquat (Chef Rob Connoley [that's me]) opened almost seven years ago as a gourmet grocery. During the early days we started the Silver City 'Cut the Cheese' Club where we brought in rare and unusual cheeses and threw parties around them. Not unusual except to realize that Silver City is a town of less than 10,000 residents (50,000 in our entire county), and we're so remote that you need to drive three hours to the nearest notable airport (ELP & Tucson). If there were a formula that accounted for restaurant quality to remoteness I am confident that we would be near the top!

But that's not the reason we should be considered. That cheese club grew from 10 members to over 250 in just a few short months. The growth happened as we shared our food knowledge and, of course, our food through various events and caterings. The club led to extravagent 12 course tasting dinners that focused on local and seasonal ingredients. The success of the club also led us to expand the store into our restaurant five years ago starting initially with a sandwich shop and high-end pastry outlet. Our success carried over clearly finding support for our fresh local food philosophy. As we expanded into our modernist dinners the success followed, but the refinement of food and philosophy took monstrous leaps.

Our online reviews will give you an inkling of how people view what we're doing. We've had many generous compliments including a manager for an international executive caterer who said that his meal with us was the best he's had in the Southwest in years. We regularly hear that we're the best in New Mexico, and certain dishes will even get "best anywhere" comments.

But again, online reviews are no reason to nominate us. And here again I want to say that this isn't about ego stroking. Because of our remoteness, we have little chance of getting a nationally known food writer to pass through, and so our chance of a nomination is minimal. This is an appeal for your support. Here are the reasons we believe we should be considered:

1. Our Philosophy - Our philosophy evolves with every dish we send out. We're committed to local foods over organics. We're committed to using 4-H animals to support our community's youth. We're committed to honoring and celebrating the foods of the indigenous Apaches of our area. We're committed to using the most modern techniques to tease out the most from our ingredients. And most recently, we're committed to the use of indigenous, foraged foods using a team of foragers who operate under a code of ethics that ensures the proliferation of our ingredients for both man and beast.

2. Our Quality - Do we really even need to say this? We believe so only because of the rampant use of pre-prepared foods at even some of the nicest restaurants. I don't accept using frozen avocados, for example. Why use something that's frozen - if its in season, get it fresh, if its not, don't use it. Chef Rob [that's still me] touches every single component that goes on your plate. Nightly guests comment about how they can taste the love and passion. Our plating changes every single night because every night incites a different emotion and requires different plating.

3. Our Innovation - That whole bag of tricks from the molecular gastronomy/technoemotional/avant garde movement is in full use in our kitchen, but that's all old hat nowadays. Every modern kitchen should be current on its techniques. Where we bring innovation is our ingredients. The most current example is in our exploration of acorns. Google acorn recipes and see what pops up. You'll see the obligatory breads and cookies and biscotti and soups. But we're looking at acorn chocolate mousse and acorn jelly (dotorimuk) with pine cone syrup and juniper infused goats yogurt. Acorn smoke is working its way onto the menu as is acorn essence. Every ingredient gets examined and explored from every angle imaginable and that leads us to original and innovative dishes night after night.

4. The little guy - Is this a reason for a nomination? We think so and here's why. If you were to give us a million dollars, an up-to-date kitchen, and a staff of 20 we could pull off world-class food in any city. Any good chef could pull that off. But, a staff of two in the kitchen and three on the floor in a town three hours to anywhere with a kitchen that your average home cook would look down upon...and pull off food that is top-notch...now that's something to consider.

We don't expect to beat the big boys of Vegas or Denver or Phoenix, but we do believe that being nominated would truly represent the quality of restaurants in the Southwest, and we do believe we are a national caliber restaurant that rivals other Beard nominees. Thank you for considering us for Best Chef in the Southwest. To vote click HERE, register or login and scroll to the Southwest category for Best Chef.
~ Chef Rob Connoley