Throwback Thursday: What We Ate at the First Annual JBF Awards

It's hard to believe that the 25th annual James Beard Awards are less than a month away, but we're already starting to pack our bags for the celebrations in Chicago. In honor of our anniversary theme of a quarter century of culinary excellence, we’re looking back at the very first Awards reception menu from 1991. Take a peek and you might spot some familiar names, along with a few ingredients that continue to capture dining culture to this day. What really drew us in, however, were the dishes just a little outside the ordinary, such as JBF Award winner Charlie Trotter’s "Smoked Eel Beggar’s Purse," and JBF Award–winning pastry chef Jacques Torres's “Mini Manhattan Buildings," which has us wondering what kind of culinary flights of fancy we'll find at this year's festivities.

Check out the full menu below, and read all our 2015 Beard Awards coverage here.