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Susan Kelliher Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation, focuses on furthering the famous chef’s legacy – and on what’s really important about a meal. ThoughtFOODFOOD FORFOR SUSIE CUSHNER BY KARAThought ROTA

s I pull open the heavy the Foundation, Ungaro has pioneered a Avery Fisher Hall, and initiating the James door of the James Beard multitude of initiatives to further the Beard Foundation’s Annual Food House on West 12th Street Foundation’s mission of celebrating, nur- Conference, held last year in Washington, and 7th Avenue in turing and preserving America’s diverse DC and this year at the Hearst Towers in Manhattan’s West Village, culinary heritage, and helping to lead the New York. “We gather thought leaders theA first thing that hits me is the smell. complex future of the nation’s relationship from all different walks of work in the Chestnuts roasting, shallots caramelizing, with food. culinary world, from academia and gov- the unmistakable and glorious aroma of “The James Beard Foundation is going ernment to chefs and restaurateurs to lead- the very best meats prepared by those who to be celebrating our 25th anniversary in ers of nonprofit organizations fighting really know what they’re doing. 2012,” Ms. Ungaro says with true enthusi- hunger. We gather to talk about what’s This is what the James Beard House asm. “It’s a very exciting time for us. really important in the food world today. smells like over 225 days of the year, as Anniversaries are important hallmarks of We’ve just launched this year our chefs from all over the country and the having not only survived, but succeeded Leadership Awards, which honor work world come to “perform” at fundraiser –making a difference and making a mark outside of the fields that are traditionally dinners in the Beard house. And that’s not in what you want your foundation to rep- included in the James Beard Awards. even the main reason why Susan Kelliher resent.” A new book called The Best of the [They recognize] people who are working Ungaro, appointed President of the James Best celebrates 25 years of America’s out- to fight hunger, improve school lunches, Beard Foundation in 2006, took the job. standing chefs, and this May’s James improve public policy; people who are “I loved what James Beard stood for,” Beard Awards will continue to celebrate doing work in big corporations to feed Ms. Ungaro muses as we sit in her cozy James Beard’s legacy. America healthier and more sustainable office at the top of a creaky yet grand Ungaro’s ability to communicate the food.” winding staircase, on the third floor of the importance of the Beard legacy and the The increase in public awareness on 1844-built brownstone. Susan Ungaro goals of the Foundation has certainly such “food politics” issues in recent years came to the James Beard Foundation after served her well in recent years. She has might be new to some, but they are an 12 years as editor-in-chief of Family accomplished such achievements as mov- enduring part of Beard’s philosophy. Circle magazine, where she celebrated her ing the James Beard Awards (“the Oscars “James Beard was talking about cooking 25th anniversary in 2001. Since joining of the food industry”) to Lincoln Center’s in season long before it was trendy,”

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explains Ungaro. When Joe Baum opened affair and an opportunity for greatness still reflects. “If anything, I think [shows on the famous Four Seasons restaurant in resonates with many today. channels such as The Food Network and New York in 1959, Beard was brought in “He’s considered the godfather of Bravo] have brought back the idea that as a consultant and helped to create the American cuisine,” says Ungaro. “What I being able to cook a meal is something to initial concept of seasonality in changing loved was that he came to New York aspire to. In the 1960s and 70s, it wasn’t a menus.“So many more restaurants now, wanting to be an opera singer or on status thing. Feminists certainly wouldn’t not only do they tell you today’s menu but Broadway. And what do most aspiring have wanted to say, ‘I can cater a great they tell you what artisanal cheese maker, singers and actors have to do? Wait tables. party; I can cook a great meal.’” where the lambs were slaughtered, where Well, he found a different way.” The role of women in the cooking and the fish came from,” says Ungaro. “It’s a Beard grew up in a boardinghouse his food industry has been complex, fraught sign of caring – from the restaurant’s point mother ran in Portland, Oregon, and when with a history of the unpaid labor of of view – about educating their diners he came to New York, he opened a suc- homemakers and the skills of truly talent- ed home cooks taken for granted, fol- Clockwise from below: Susan lowed by decades of women going with- Ungaro at a celebrity chef out recognition in a chef-glorification cul- auction in 2011. The exterior of the James ture dominated by men. Ungaro has over- Beard house on West 12th seen a time in which that is slowly chang- street in Manhattan.

WILL RAGOZZINO ing, not least with the Foundation’s 2009 about where their food comes from… I focus on Women in Food as a theme. think what [the Foundation has] done in “I really was very proud of the fact that this country, and the media has helped this we decided to celebrate Women in Food,” tremendously, is that we’ve raised peo- says Ungaro. “As with the rest of business ple’s consciousness about words like in America, women are still a minority. I “food miles,” “cooking in season,” “arti- was just at the Fortune Most Powerful sanal.” All those words are really chang- Women Summit, and there are 12 women ing how people think about shopping at in the Fortune 500. When you think about the supermarket and what they put in their that, about being a chef and restaurateur bodies. You are what you eat, so know and getting the kind of recognition that what you eat. That mantra is something cessful catering company for hors d’oeu- you have to have to become a success – that we really endorse. vres and canapés that inspired his first it’s just that much harder for women. I “There is no doubt that the typical cookbook. Beard made a name for himself was really proud of the fact that a lot of American diet needs work. We know that as an author (eventually penning 24 cook- women who are doing great things and from the work of [Michelle Obama] and books), a teacher, and a pioneer in food achieving great success are James Beard her campaign, Let’s Move, fighting the television. Ungaro remembers “episodes Award winners; more and more women diabetes epidemic in America. And people of Beard on the Today Show with a young are getting nominated… I’m confident could say, well, the James Beard Bryant Gumbel and a young Tom Brokaw, that women are making headway in the Foundation is all about fine dining and teaching them how to make homemade business of the restaurant world; I think thinking about food all the time, but we pasta and roast chicken. Back then, food we certainly have had a lot of power when really care a lot about the fact that we was a new kind of content for program- it comes to the media world.” want food to not only taste good but to be ming.” In fact, those early episodes were As a multiple award winner, a partici- good and healthful for you.” filmed in James Beard’s kitchen, long pant in President Clinton’s Women’s Beard’s own beginnings were those of before in-studio kitchens on talk shows Roundtables, and someone who was hon- aspiration and determination, and his became common. ored by President Reagan’s Office for approach to cooking as both an everyday “Thank God for television,” Ungaro Consumer Affairs for her “outstanding

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contribution to increasing consumer awareness in America,” Ungaro is a strong example of that power. She is the oldest of six children, whose parents arrived in America from County Kerry, Ireland. Her mother was a home- maker whose approach to dinnertime was based around the challenge of consistent- ly feeding a family of eight. “People love to make fun of the Irish and their cooking skills,” says Ungaro with a good-natured wink. “I did grow up on a diet of spuds and meat well-done and lots of veggies. WILL RAGOZZINO And the desserts – all kinds of cakes and scones and fruitcake; my mother would make an Irish fruitcake that I will defend strongly, and have. When I was the editor of Family Circle, with apologies to my Alton Brown, Susan Ungaro and Drew dear mother, I learned more about how to Nieporent at Lincoln Center for the “I think new media has democratized cook in our test kitchens than I did from James Beard Awards, May 2010 America’s interest in food. It’s something my wonderful mother…My tastes for that has become a lifestyle to aspire to. cuisines expanded as I expanded my uni- If a man’s home is his castle, then his And it’s not just eating at great fancy verse. I grew up in a house where we did- kitchen is his throne, and James Beard’s restaurants or unique cuisine restaurants, I n’t go out to dinner – it was pretty rare. I kitchen is at once breathtaking and think it’s that people feel that being knowl- think the first time I had Chinese food was homey. It’s immediately clear why this edgeable about food is almost as important when I was in college.” historic kitchen, and the brownstone that as being knowledgeable about politics, or But something more important than the houses it, were worth saving. “When other aspects of life. I just hope that we contents of the plates stuck with Ungaro Julia Child came back from Paris to New don’t lose the aesthetic value and comfort from those family dinners. “I did have a York, her editor Judith Jones asked her, of sitting on a couch having tea and flip- wonderful upbringing in terms of valuing ‘Who’s the first person you want to ping through the pages of a cookbook to be a sense of community around the table. I meet?’” Ungaro tells me. “Julia Child’s inspired about cooking. I think those days think what’s really special about food and response was James Beard. They became – I’ll be long gone – are going to be over dining is, yes, the deliciousness of the fast friends, really good friends. When he at a certain point. I’m the mother of three, food, but what really makes a dinner spe- passed away 26 years ago, he was a sin- my youngest is seventeen, and my kids are cial is the conversation and sense of com- gle, gay man with no siblings, no heirs. reading the New York Times online. munal feeling around the table, and that’s He left his estate, his house and every- They’re getting recipes online. I think [of] what we try to replicate 225 days a year at thing in it, and his publishing rights, to baby boomers, women like me who grew the James Beard house…The art of con- his alma mater as well as his editor. up with great magazines like Family versation, whether it’s about food or poli- Everything was being sold off, and Julia Circle, who would keep loose-leaf binders tics or movies or the arts. The Irish are Child, along with [Institute of Culinary with their favorite recipes. What are they known for being great about the gift of the Education founder] Peter Kump said, doing now? They’re filing them on their gab, or whatever you want to call it, and I ‘they can’t sell Jim’s house. Let’s take computer. In some ways, it’s making certainly learned that from my parents.” the house back, let’s buy it from them access to a greater breadth of food knowl- After my conversation with Ms. and make it a center for American cui- edge available to everybody, and I applaud Ungaro, I’m lucky enough to get an sine.’ And that’s what they did.” that. I just hope that we don’t lose...” insider’s tour of the James Beard house, Experiencing food culture in a place as Here she pauses, uncharacteristically from the back patio where guests at the historically saturated as the Beard house, lost for words, if only for a moment, as she culinary arts organization’s regular I wonder if this generation is missing out tries to articulate something that permeates fundraiser dinners sip cocktails, to the on something, and if so, where they can the Foundation’s mission and Beard’s stove where, tonight, Aimee Olexy and find it. These days, young people are less legacy; the house itself and every dinner Sean McPaul of Talula’s Garden in likely to find a classic recipe or learn a eaten there; the conversation around the Philadelphia are preparing a meal that new technique from a cookbook than on tables and the satisfied sighs after meals includes fig-brushed beef rib brochettes; a food television show, on a recipe web- that are artful, thoughtful and truly fulfill- hand-raised hens with savoy cabbage, site or in a cooking app downloaded to ing. “Food is so emotional and tangible, royal trumpets, and chicken liver com- their iPhone. But Ungaro is largely opti- and you’ve got to use your fingers at some pound butter; and sweet November scal- mistic about the power of technology to point, chances are. I think there will lops with butternut broth, black walnuts, make great food accessible to a wider always be some aspect that you can hold and Asian pear cider reduction. demographic. in your hands.” IA

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