Breaking: Niche's Gerard Craft Is Not "Best Chef - Midwest" at James Beard Awards

Gerard Craft of Niche (1831 Sidney Street; Web site) lost the Best Chef - Midwest category at the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards to Tim McKee of La Belle Vie in Minneapolis. The award was announced this evening at a black-tie event in New York City. This was the first nomination for Craft -- and the first nomination for a St. Louis chef, period -- in the category.

Of course, we here at Gut Check cast objectivity aside and rooted hard for Craft to win, and we congratulate him on making the very, very short list of the industry's most prestigious awards.