Watch this James Beard Award-winning short film about Waldo County restaurant The Lost Kitchen

The Media Awards element of the 2017 James Beard Awards — the Oscars of the U.S. food world — were awarded last night, in a ceremony separate from the restaurant awarded to be given out next month.

While only two Maine restaurants and breweries made it into the final rounds for this year’s awards (Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor of Eventide Oyster Company and Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Company, both in Portland), one Maine restaurant did end up with a win in a media category.

Tastemade, a food and travel video website, produced a series of short films with sponsor L.L. Bean about artisans and chefs called Uncharted, and the first series featured Erin French of The Lost Kitchen in the Waldo County town of Freedom. French, who has been nominated for James Beard Awards herself, explains over the course of the ten-minute documentary her background in Maine, her relationship to food, and how The Lost Kitchen came to be. Last night, the film was given the Visual and Technical Excellent Award, and French — alongside filmmaker James Mann — was on hand to accept the award in Chicago last night.

Watch the documentary below!

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.