The Times’ Addison Earns James Beard Media Award for Restaurant Reviews
(Paul Argumedo / For The Times)
Los Angeles Times Restaurant Critic Bill Addison has won the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award from the James Beard Foundation in its Media Awards competition.
The James Beard Media Awards were presented at a ceremony in Chicago on June 3. They honor the nation’s top food authors, broadcast producers, hosts, journalists, podcasters and social media content creators.
Addison’s award-winning entries include Poncho’s Tlayudas, a window to Oaxaca, serves one of L.A.’s defining dishes; At Chinatown’s Pearl River Deli, the menu is always changing — and worth chasing; and Anajak Thai is our 2022 Restaurant of the Year.
The subjects of the three reviews “are all places that encapsulate the specific greatness of Los Angeles,” said Addison. One celebrates the reopening of Poncho’s Tlayudas, a Friday night pop-up stand serving one of Oaxaca’s (and L.A.’s) defining specialties. The second, Pearl River Deli, details a Cantonese-American restaurant in Chinatown fueled by a chef “with an incessantly restless creativity,” he said. And the third — about Anajak Thai, The Times’ 2022 Restaurant of the Year — centers on a son returning to run the Sherman Oaks restaurant his parents started in the 1980s. “He reimagined the restaurant to both honor what they created while also looking forward in ways that has inspired so many in the L.A. culinary community,” Addison added.
“Every time I read a new review by Bill I learn something new — usually two or three or more new things, actually,” said Food Editor Daniel Hernandez. “His precision and expertise, passion for each subject, and dedication to the most exacting standards make him a joy to publish. L.A. Times Food is very lucky to have him!”
Addison said he was particularly gratified to be honored by the James Beard Foundation. “Awards are a funny business — they can mean nothing, they can mean everything,” he said. “It would be disingenuous if I didn’t admit that this particular award is one I’ve been hoping to win since about the first month I began writing restaurant reviews 21 years ago. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do some of the best work of my career for the Times.”
