How Condé Nast’s Bon Appétit rethought its restaurant awards for the pandemic

One of the signature franchises at Condé Nast’s venerable foodie magazine Bon Appétit is the annual “Hot 10” list of the 10 best new restaurants in America. It’s an awards program that helps identify emerging culinary trends, drives tourism and transforms neighborhoods, and, most of all, makes its honorees industry stars overnight. “It’s a distinction that changes the lives of restaurant owners,” as Gayle King of CBS News put it pre-pandemic—but in late 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic dragging on and the restaurant industry continuing to struggle, BA’s team decided to totally rethink its honors program. “It didn’t seem right to have them compete against one another when they were all in dire straits,” Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis told Ad Age. (See our interview with Davis below.) And so tonight in New York City, BA will celebrate its inaugural “Heads of the Table” honorees, recognizing “the trailblazing, community-building, future-building leaders changing the restaurant industry.” The event will be shared with the public live @bonappetitmag on Instagram (where BA has 4 million followers) via an Instagram Story takeover, with support from Monogram Luxury Appliances. Virtual cocktails start at 6 p.m. ET, followed by a dinner at 7. Julie Burns, executive director, Monogram, said it was a no-brainer to come on board as the event’s presenting sponsor. “We are committed to supporting rising stars in both the culinary arts and design as a brand,” she told Ad Age, “and we’re delighted to help celebrate trailblazers who are changing the restaurant industry for good.” (As it happens, Monogram was already a sponsor of one of the “Heads of the Table” honorees: The LEE Initiative of Louisville, Kentucky. In the spring, Monogram provided LEE’s Women Culinary and Spirits Program mentees with tools, including appliances and media training.) “Partnering with Monogram Luxury Appliances—which already plays an active role in uplifting the restaurant industry—to bring together these inspiring community leaders could truly not be more gratifying,” said Jennifer Mormile, chief business officer of the Lifestyle Division at Condé Nast. Below, excerpts from Ad Age’s larger conversation with Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis about celebrating the “Heads of the Table” of an industry under siege. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. At what point did you decide to rethink the “Hot 10” franchise? BA’s annual “Hot 10” recognized the Top 10 best new restaurants across the country and the list truly served as the ultimate restaurant guide for many of our readers. But for much of the last year and a half, it was impossible to travel to the restaurants that managed to open. A list would have lacked authenticity. At the same time I was reading stories about chefs who were helping essential workers, restaurant owners who were dipping into their savings to pay their employees, etc. I thought there is a lot of heart out there. So I asked the team to help me think through, beyond delicious and memorable food, how we might reframe what it means to be an outstanding restaurant. So “delicious and memorable food” still matters, but now you’re looking to honor leadership outside of the kitchen as well. While the food will always be a key deciding factor, the pandemic reinforced that restaurants are much more than that—they can inspire, reform and build community. The team and I asked ourselves, “Who is putting others first? Who is making the industry better?” and came up with a dozen restaurants, people and organizations that stood out for their deep impact and, of course, their stellar food. How did you find the honorees? Once we made the decision not to do the “Hot 10” this year, we cast a wide net, asking team members internally and also friends of the brand for recommendations for restaurants, people and organizations that pivoted in the pandemic to serve their communities and better the industry. We got such an incredible and enthusiastic response. We began narrowing down our list to really reflect those who were working toward improving the different areas of need and growth in the restaurant industry. We then vetted each contender. Give us an example of what makes an honoree a “trailblazing leader.” One of my favorite honorees on the list is Down North Pizza in Philadelphia. Executive Chef Michael Carter is featured in the article and he embodies the work of chef and co-founder Kurt Evans, and founder Muhammad Abudl-Hadi, whose focus is on hiring, training and housing people who were previously incarcerated. I also think the work Chris Williams at Lucille’s [of Houston] is doing—not only helping the food insecure or the elderly, who when the pandemic was at its peak we didn’t want out and about, but also opening up his patio to other restaurants so they could take over the bar and keep the profits, and helping refugees learn culinary skills—is incredibly inspiring. And the LEE initiative, which works to provide immediate relief for restaurant workers, and trains young chefs. How will the event go down? I mean, attending an intimate dinner in honor of the "Heads of the Table" sounds wonderful, but how will you turn that into great content for virtual visitors on Instagram? This event will not only be a celebration of the honorees, but a space to cultivate relationships with the other change-makers from the list. Each individual has innovated in ways that are novel and exemplary, and this event provides the opportunity to share with one another what they’ve learned and ... continue to find inspiration to push forward. The IG Story Takeover is a way to allow our audiences to virtually meet our honorees and get to know more about these incredible individuals. By bringing them onto the social platform in this way—tagging their business and handles—we are also continuing to push our audiences to learn more about each honoree’s mission and engage with the businesses local to them, or inspire them to find others that are doing good in their own communities. Read more about all of the “Head of the Table” honorees here. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

How Condé Nast’s Bon Appétit rethought its restaurant awards for the pandemic

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