The James Beard Awards were held in Chicago last evening and, on the whole, they were kind of a wash for the Bay Area. NYC, on the other hand, did very well. (The five boroughs count as their own geographical region, so they seldom fare poorly, whereas San Francisco is lumped in not only with the rest of California but with Hawaii and Nevada, too.)

[jump] Manresa’s Jessica Largey won Rising Star Chef of the Year, A16 won Outstanding Wine Program, Rajat Parr of the Mina Group won Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional, and Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions won Best Chef(s) in the West.

Krasinski and Brioza’s The Progress was nominated in Best New Restaurant but lost to New York’s Batard. Other notable snubs include Belinda Leong and Michel Suas of B. Patisserie, William Werner of Craftsman & Wolves (both for Outstanding Baker), Bar Agricole (Outstanding Bar Program), Michael Mina (Outstanding Restaurateur), and Quince (Outstanding Service). See the full list of winners here.

However, the bigger news might be that Esquire’s brilliant, mouthy critic, Josh Ozersky, died in Chicago yesterday while he was in town for the awards. According to the New York Times, the cause of death has either not been determined or not been released, and Ozersky was last seen by friends “at a karaoke lounge about 4 a.m.” SFoodie contributor the Dapper Diner interviewed Ozersky not even a month ago, and it’s worth a read if you missed it the first time. (He doesn’t sugarcoat a single thing.)

Ozersky was only 47, which is still young enough for a death to be tragic. We can’t decide if dying after a rousing night of karaoke is the best or the worst way to go out, but considering how badly he will be missed just by his readers alone, we send our condolences to his family.