Kevin Gillespie

It's that time of year again, when the culinary cream of the crop gears up for the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Awards. This morning, the James Beard Foundation debuted its long list of semifinalists.

The semifinalists were announced for the following restaurant and chef categories: outstanding restaurateur, outstanding chef, outstanding restaurant, outstanding service, best new restaurant, rising star chef of the year, outstanding pastry chef, outstanding wine service, outstanding wine and spirits professional, and best chef for the following regions: Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Great Lakes, New York City, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, and South.

To find out which big names made headlines, read more.

When Bocuse d'Or USA announced its 12 semifinalists back in December, there was only one shoo-in on the list. Kevin Gillespie, the Top Chef fan favorite, earned his spot during one of the show's elimination challenges. Now, in an interesting turn of events, Gillespie has taken himself out of the competition.

Replacing the Top Chef finalist will be Jim Burke, executive chef at James in Philadelphia. Reasons as of right now are unclear, although Bocuse d'Or expert Andrew Friedman brings up the likely possibility that, with all his recent fame, Gillespie doesn't have the time — and motivation — to train for the event. Somehow, I'm not surprised and always questioned whether his straightforward, rustic approach would jive with the other competition platters.

Are you sad to hear that Kevin no longer has a shot at winning the Bocuse d'Or?

Photo courtesy of Bravo

As part of our annual end of the year coverage, we asked you who your favorite Top Chef contestant was. Over the course of 2009, we were lucky enough to watch two exciting seasons of Top Chef.

The first, Top Chef season five, was shot in New York City and featured the infamous relationships of Leah and Hosea — and Stefan and Fabio. The following season, which just ended and was filmed in Las Vegas, was the first time we saw brothers compete.

The voting was across the board with fan favorite Kevin Gillespie taking the majority at 37 percent. We agree with you readers: Kevin is a lovable inspiration, and I'm dying to eat one of his pork masterpieces. We look forward to seeing what's next for Kevin!

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Yesterday, Bocuse d'Or USA chairman Daniel Boulud announced the 12 semifinalists who will compete to represent the United States in the next Bocuse d'Or. Following in the footsteps of Top Chef's Hung Huynh is Top Chef Las Vegas finalist Kevin Gillespie, who won an elimination challenge to compete at the Bocuse d'Or.

The 12 semifinalists will square off on Feb. 6, 2010, at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, for a highly coveted position on the US team. The winners will then compete at the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, France, in 2011.

I find it puzzling that, although the competition drew only 17 applicants, the number of candidates seems to have nearly doubled since last year. Still, I'm excited to see how everything pans out. Although I wonder whether Kevin's straightforward, rustic cooking will be too simple for the culinary Olympics, I still hope he goes all the way.

To find out who the other 11 competitors are, read more.