Have you seen the James Beard Foundation 2015 award winners? I’m not going to claim I’m an expert in anything – and I do mean anything – related to how one evaluates true merit, but one specific result struck me as being particularly odd…

How does a first-time nominee win for barbecue? Barbecue. Really? Check out the nominee list and tell me rubbing elbows with chef Nobu Matsuhisa in a Chase Bank commercial doesn’t pay off? Me? Hell, I’d rather head for Cave Creek or Santa Fe. Yeah, I’ve lived in Texas – even visited Austin a time or two, or three, or… Well, whatever…

I can safely say slabs of beef – or pork – being slowly carbonized in a rusty steel enclosure don’t belong in the winner’s circle, period.

Let’s hope those who are making these er, uh, um, ah decisions don’t let a silly commercial aimed at beer-swilling [couch] potato-shaped Sunday afternoon wanna-be quarterbacks influence their choice for this particular region to the same degree in 2016.

…well, one can at least hope.