Lugano takes Manhattan

Utah chefs often claim their cuisine can hold its own with big-city restaurants in San Francisco or New York. Tonight, Greg Neville, owner of Lugano restaurant, has a chance to prove it with a dinner at the James Beard House in New York City.

"This is a major deal," said Neville last Wednesday, as he gave Utah diners a preview of the same five-course meal, billed as an "Italian Wine Lover's Dinner." The event served as a dress rehearsal for Neville and chefs Wyatt Jones and Jonah Hornsby.

An invitation to cook at the James Beard House is akin to a musician being asked to perform at the Grammys. James Beard, a cook and food writer, is widely recognized as the father of American gastronomy. After Beard died in 1985, Julia Child and other friends bought his New York City house and preserved it as the foodie gathering spot it was throughout Beard's life.

Today, the James Beard Foundation promotes the culinary world through events, scholarships and annual awards. Distinguished chefs are regularly chosen to present a dinner at the James Beard House. Only about a dozen Utah chefs have had the honor in the past.

A sellout group of about 120 diners paid $55 for the Salt Lake preview dinner, plus an optional $35 for wine. (Tonight in New York, Beard Foundation members will pay $100; nonmembers will pay $130.)

One diner who gave the menu high marks was Victor Cruz, a New York City physician who moved to Utah eight months ago.

"I think that Greg Neville is going the extra mile and bringing it to a level that definitely compares to the high-end places in New York where my wife and I would always go out to eat," he said.

Neville's team will be back at the Beard House when his Murray restaurant, Pine, will serve dinner there on Thanksgiving Day.

"I've never even been to New York, so it will be a great experience," said Jonah Hornsby, Pine's chef di cuisine. "I won't be home for Thanksgiving, but I think my family can do without me one year."

That's not the only sacrifice involved in the honor. The restaurant provides its own transportation and lodging, as well as the food and wine for the 60 to 70 diners.

Neville declined to give the amount that the two trips are costing but said, "The lodging and transportation alone is enough to set somebody back."

Mildred Amico, emeritus director of the Beard House's programming, said the group first heard about Neville through Lugano's publicist, Missy Larsen. "He had some very good press, such as Food & Wine magazine," she said in a telephone interview. "And he presented us with a very nice Italian menu with some very nice wines."