And the winners are.....Cure, Outstanding Bar Program, and Nina Compton Best Chef:  South.  New Orleans has always prided its self on being a culinary and cocktail mecca, and the recent James Beard Awards reiterate that we love food and booze!  Cure, co-founded by bartenders Neal Bodenheimer and Kirk Estopinal in 2009, helped kick start the Freret Street renaissance, and has become an anchor in the neighborhood.  Nina Compton moved to New Orleans after her stint on "Top Chef" and started Compere Lapin and her new Bywater American Bristro.  

Compere Lapin is now a star on the New Orleans hospitality landscape and has become an incubator for young chefs who denote that they have trained under Nina.  A native of St. Lucia, we are delighted that she is now "one of us."  

Cure has become a pacesetter for modern cocktails.  After all, the cocktail was founded in New Orleans, and Cure is keeping that cocktail tradition alive.