Overcoming stage fright with a James Beard Award winner
Portfolio | Writing | Leadership
July 2025
In 2013, Tandy Wilson of City House restaurant in Nashville received a nomination for a James Beard Award, the highest honor a chef can win. He lost. In 2014, he lost again. 2015 — the big L. But in 2016, everything changed. Wilson brought the coveted award home to Nashville for the first time. Except there was one problem.
After all the nominations, he still had no idea what to say at the award ceremony. "Terrified" was the word he used. In the runup to the ceremony, he had "hit the road," serving his dishes at festivals and meeting potential judges all over the country. But he was content to cook, not present on stage to the industry. When he stood up to accept the award, the presenter said something that made him do a double-take. She told him an inside-joke message from his friend, the founder of Martin's BBQ: "Pat Martin says Kumquat."
Finally, Wilson couldn't help but laugh and take a breath. He read some words he had prepared and somehow, he survived the speech. Today, he continues to be a local legend and run City House with the same panache as ever.
This story, as told by Wilson in his first and only podcast interview in 2023, reminds us to remember why we are in this — whatever that may be for you. In restaurants, as in life, you have to find the one word that reminds yourself why you do what you do.
What word reminds you of your why? The podcast host echoed from another interview that food is how chefs show love. If the "business" of restaurants takes that away, then what reason do they have to live? With that word, Pat Martin reminded Wilson that he simply loved to cook. All it took was a kumquat. Wilson chuckled: "it's just a funny word."
What's your kumquat?