Meet the 2015 Outstanding Personality/Host Broadcast Award Nominees

With so many resources for recipes, restaurants, and culinary curiosities, it can seem overwhelming to try to figure out what exactly you want to learn or discover. That’s where this year’s nominees for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Personality/Host come in. These individuals strive to be curators for home cooks and amateur anthropologist—foodies, inviting us into their kitchens or having us tag along on their adventures to help ensure viewers get only the cream of the content crop. 

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Host: Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics
Airs on: Food Network

After over a decade on the air, Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa sets the standard for high-quality, elegant entertaining recipes. Self-assured without ever being patronizing, Garten guides the audience through each step of the recipe, deconstructing classic dishes to ensure that when her viewers host, they also get to enjoy the party. [Image above] 

Host: Vivian Howard
A Chef’s Life
Airs on: PBS

So much of the common conception of restaurant life is based around major metropolises, but beyond the bright city lights, owning a running a restaurant still presents a daunting task. A Chef’s Life documents the everyday stumbling blocks and celebrations of lauded chef Vivian Howard, as she navigates career, family, and the potential of the future in her home town of Kinston, North Carolina.

Host: Pete Evans
Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking
Airs on: PBS

As a chef, avid fisherman, and surfer, Pete Evans is perfectly suited to host the high-octane series Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking, which travels across the U.S. seeking out the innovative chefs and local food artisans changing the way we think about regional cuisine. In each episode he teams up with new chefs to tackle a new and entirely unique situation, from fishing by bow and arrow to wrestling gators, all with the aim of crafting a delicious feast for friends and family.

Read all 2015 Beards Award coverage here.