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Magician David Copperfield waved his hand over the envelope, which popped open. He wiggled his fingers, and the card slid upward

The James Beard Awards may be considered to be the Oscars of the food world, but when it comes to the honor that anoints chefdom's Next Big Thangs, it's hard to argue with the track record of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs in America. Past winners include such restaurant gods as Thomas Keller (1988), Nobu Matsuhisha (1989), Wylie Dufresne (2001), David Chang (2006), and April Bloomfield (2007).

In my previous life as fashion editor I covered the Oscars for many years. And now that the finalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards have just been announced, I can totally see how the JBAs are like the Oscars for the food world, complete with just as much campaigning, intrigue and breathless live blogging as Hollywood's biggest night.