Spoon and Stable chef wins James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest

CHICAGO (KMSP) - After dazzling Minneapolis with his French-inspired creations, another top honor for the mastermind behind "Spoon and Stable", Gavin Kaysen. The James Beard Awards named the Minneapolis native "Top Chef of the Midwest" at their glitzy ceremony in Chicago Monday night.

The latest accolade comes 10 years after Kaysen took home "Rising Chef of the Year". The James Beard Awards honor the best cuisine from across the country--they're known as the "Oscars of the Food World".

Besides his work at Spoon and Stable, Kaysen is also the architect behind Wayzata's Bellecour. The chef moved back to the Twin Cities after spending several years honing his skills in New York.

At last night's ceremony Kaysen thanked the teams that work with him, lending their inspiration and support.

"Creating a restaurant is not impossible, but finding a group of people that believe in you and your vision is the powerful spirit that makes you cook food on a daily basis," Kaysen said.

Three other Minneapolis chefs were also nominated, but did not walk away with any hardware. They included Spoon and Stable's pastry chef Diane Yang, Young Joni's Ann Kim, and Tilia's Steven Brown.

Last night's awards were handed out at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.