Beaumont Inn Earns James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Award

HARRODSBURG, Ky. - March 5, 2015 - PRLog -- Beaumont Inn, Kentucky’s oldest family-operated country inn, has been selected by the James Beard Foundation as a recipient of the America’s Classics Award presented by Brand USA. The award is given to restaurants that have timeless appeal and are beloved for quality food that reflects the character of their community.

“We are beyond thrilled to be recognized by The James Beard Foundation,” said Dixon Dedman. “My parents, Chuck and Helen, and my wife, Elizabeth, and I, are honored but extremely humbled for this award. We look forward to the trip to Chicago to accept this great honor on behalf of all five generations of our Beaumont Inn family.”

Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and further the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture and honor America’s diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire. All JBF Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia.

“In an ever-changing culinary landscape, our Foundation is proud to honor those whose restaurants have stood the test of time,” said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. “Our honorees, hailing from different cities around the country, have the unique ability to bring neighborhoods together as they celebrate the authentic and unique flavors of America’s food scene.”

Beaumont Inn was founded by Glave Goddard and Annie Bell Goddard in 1917 and opened for business in 1919. Through five generations, it remains in the same family, operated today by Charles “Chuck” Minor Dedman and his wife, Helen Williams Dedman, and their son Dixon Dedman.

Set in a former women’s college built in 1845, the Beaumont’s main house is columned and formal and offers three restaurants: the Main Dining Room, Old Owl Tavern and Owl’s Nest Lounge. Three other buildings – Greystone House, Goddard Hall and Bell Cottage, which houses the spa – are also part of the inn, which sits in gracious splendor in a park-like setting of centuries-old trees.

The menu is deeply rooted in Kentucky culinary traditions and the Dedman family continues serving Kentucky products, including Weisenberger meal, Meacham hams and fine Kentucky bourbon. Recipes for dishes like corn pudding and yellow-leg fried chicken, handed down through five generations, form the core of the menu. As did the generations before them, the Dedmans serve two-year-old country ham, cured in their own aging house.

Little has changed since the days when the pioneering critic Duncan Hines was a regular. “Now write this down for the people in Kentucky,” he told a reporter back in 1949. “[Say] I’ll be happy to get home and eat two-year-old ham, cornbread, beaten biscuits, pound cake, yellow-leg fried chicken and corn pudding. And you can say what I think is the best eating place in Kentucky: Beaumont Inn at Harrodsburg.”

The 2015 honorees, including Beaumont Inn, will be celebrated at the 25th anniversary James Beard Foundation Awards presented by Lexus, on Monday, May 4, 2015, at Lyric Opera of Chicago. This year’s winners will also appear in a cookbook about the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics restaurants around the country, along with more than 80 other restaurants who have won this award since its inception in 1998. The book will be published by Rizzoli in spring 2016.

To learn more about the Beaumont Inn, its restaurants, accommodations and packages, visit www.BeaumontInn.com. Visit www.HarrodsburgKy.com for information about planning a trip to Harrodsburg, KY.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Karen Hackett (mailto:khackett@harrodsburgky.com), Executive Director

Harrodsburg/Mercer County Tourist Commission (http://www.HarrodsburgKY.com)

800-355-9192 or 859-734-2364

ABOUT HARRODSBURG, KY (http://www.harrodsburgky.com/)|Sitting amidst four National Register Historic Districts in the heart of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass region is Kentucky’s oldest city – one of the coolest places in history. Harrodsburg is full of the unexpected. A full-scale replica fort in Old Fort Harrod State Park commemorates the first permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. Providing an up-close view of one of the most unique ecosystems in the country, the geologically ancient Kentucky River Palisades, is the authentic 115-passenger Dixie Belle sternwheeler. Ten bourbon distilleries and a dozen wineries are a short drive away. There are horseback riding trails, backroads and byways for bicycle enthusiasts, and outdoor water sports from kayaking to skiing. Harrodsburg is home to Beaumont Inn, the state’s oldest family-operated country inn, and Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill – 3,000 acres of discovery at America’s largest restored Shaker community. It is one of Best Choice Reviews’ “50 Best Small Town Downtowns in America”; one of Smithsonian Magazine’s “20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2014” – the only Kentucky city on the list; and one of BBC NEWS Magazine’s “Five hidden US Travel Destinations.” Authentic, affordable, family-friendly – and full of the unexpected. This is Harrodsburg. facebook/Harrodsburg (https://www.facebook.com/pages/HarrodsburgMercer-County-Tourist-Commission/260238942507)