Cook Gets Two Beards

Houston Press staff writer Alison Cook won two honors last weekend in the James Beard Journalism Awards for excellence in food and beverage journalism.

Cook, who began working full-time for the Press in March 1994, took first place in the newspaper restaurant reviewing category over entries from the New York Observer and the International Herald Tribune. She also won the top honor in the Beard competition, the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, named for the late writer who is generally credited with turning food writing into a literary art form.

Both of the honors were given for "The Church of the Immaculate Barbecue," Cook's review in the July 28 Press of the $6 all-you-can-eat barbecue platter served at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Huntsville.

The Press, the Los Angeles Times and Saveur magazine won the most awards among the 12 Beard categories. Other winners were from GQ, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, the Washington Post and Eating Well.