Turning the Tables wins 2012 James Beard Award

Congratulations to Andrew P. Haley, whose book Turning the Tables: Restaurants and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880-1920, has been honored with the 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Award in Reference and Scholarship. It’s like winning an Oscar in the food industry. I’ll let them show you. The JBF is celebrating its 25th birthday, and this anniversary video gives a great look at what they’ve done over the years:

We’re thrilled for Haley’s win in the Reference and Scholarship category. Here’s the full list of JBF Award Winners for 2012 (PDF). You can see a few of Haley’s snapshots from the awards dinner at the Turning the Tables Facebook page.

In the book, Haley examines the transformation of American public dining at the start of the twentieth century and argues that the birth of the modern American restaurant helped establish the middle class as the arbiter of American culture. You can read a sample from Turning the Tables at the book page on the UNC Press website. If you’d like to buy the book from us, you can save 20% by using the discount code 01ENEW when you check out.

For another little taste of Haley’s wonderful writing, don’t miss his guest post from last year (one of my all-time favorites), “Hummus and Bugles.”

Congratulations again, Andrew! We lift our glasses to you.