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It took Jamie Davis several months to plan the menu he would manifest on Friday Sept. 18 at the James Beard House in New York City. Though, he would say he has prepared for the meal his whole culinary career. 

Davis is the executive chef at The Hackney on Main Street in Washington. Earlier this year, he was named a finalist for Best Chef: Southeast by the James Beard Foundation. 

Before becoming a nationally recognized chef, Davis’ culinary career began at a Smithfield’s Chicken and BBQ restaurant in Jacksonville, North Carolina where he worked his way up from dishwasher to manager by the time he turned 18. He is an U.S. Army veteran who cooked for troops in Iraq. He graduated from culinary school in Savannah, Georgia in 2011. Eight years later, he was named The Hackney’s head chef when it opened in 2019. 

If Davis were able to tell his younger self, working at Smithfields, that his hard work would one day turn into cooking at the James Beard House, his younger self wouldn’t have believed it. 

“That’s why I try to tell the younger people – you never know where this could lead. I never thought I would be doing this. I just thought I would be frying chicken and cooking hushpuppies. I didn’t think that it could take me literally all over the country…,” Davis said. 

Not only does being a chef provide for his family, but it also provides him opportunities to tell people about Washington, he said. “The way my mindset is – I love going to places that people think we’re not up to par with, and I go there and I eat and I’m just like, ‘we’re up to par.’” 

Davis continued to say that Washington is “up to par” with the rest of the country, because it is a “beautiful town” filled with people who have “good ideas.” 

The James Beard Foundation exists to recognize and honor the best restaurants and chefs in the United States. The foundation is named in memory of James Andrews Beard, a respected chef, cookbook author and expert on American cuisine. He appeared in the first televised cooking show, “I Love to Eat” on NBC in 1946. In addition, he established the James Beard Cooking School in 1955. 

Beard’s home opened in 1986 “to provide a center for the culinary arts and to continue to foster the interest James Beard inspired in all aspects of food, its preparation, presentation, and of course, enjoyment,’ per the James Beard Foundation. 

An entertainment industry executive with ties to Nickelodeon and the BBC, and an appetite for North Carolina seafood, hosts annual dinners at the James Beard House. Sept. 18 was a special night, because it was the executive’s retirement party. Knowing Davis’ expertise with North Carolina seafood, the foundation invited him to be the chef that night, Davis explained. 

 “It was a dream come true,” he said.  

Davis and his teammates, Sous Chef Amber Harding and Lead Line Cook Donquell White, “took The Hackney experience to New York,” he said.  

The menu that night included: local oysters with albino caviar and herb oil, filet mignons from Wheat Swamp Angus (in Snow Hill) with tartar hollandaise sauce, smoked trout roe, seared North Carolina tuna and sous mac topped with beets and cherries, North Carolina fried pork belly with watermelon molasses and pickled watermelon rinds and candied peppers, collard green salad – with local honeycomb, apples and a vinaigrette – and shrimp and North Carolina grits with seared swordfish and a spin on she-crab soup jumbo lump crab meat from County Road Seafood (in Belhaven), rice, celery and carrots. Finally, the evening was finished off with bananas foster. 

In the party’s audience were 25 people who were from either Nickelodeon, the BBC or James Beard Foundation. CEO of the James Beard Foundation, Clare Reichenbach, was in attendance and was amazed by Davis’ flavor combinations and use of ingredients, he said.  

For some chefs, cooking at the James Beard House can be stressful as everyone in the kitchen is working off of adrenaline. But in Davis’ experience, it was “chill,” he said. 

Davis said preparing the meal was one of the “most laid back” services in his career, because of the preparation that was done prior to traveling to New York. “When we got there, we were 98% prepped up. We went really hard before we went up there. We took two coolers packed. So, the morning of, we had to spin ice cream and I went to the market and grabbed some vegetables and a couple other things, but that was it.” 

“We just had to cook, plate and execute,” Davis added. 

Davis considers the dinner a success and said everything “went very well.” 

Owner and Restaurant Manager Susanne Hackney echoed Davis’ comments writing, “it was a magical experience” in an email to the Daily News   

“We loved doing the event and bringing The Hackney to New York. It is wonderful to see Chef Jamie’s dreams come true and to achieve our goals! It is truly driven by Chef Jamie’s hard work, focus, organization, talent, dedication, positive attitude and leadership. I am so thankful for Chef Jamie and his Team!”

She added, “It is really the best job ever in the Front of House at The Hackney and in this case The Hackney at The James Beard House – to see the joy from Guests when they taste Chef Jamie’s food and enjoy the atmosphere and beverages.  We are so honored to have been selected for the private event at The James Beard House,” 

“As Chef Jamie says – ‘all gas no brakes’  we don’t plan to rest – we strive to keep learning, to keep improving in all aspects of hospitality at The Hackney.”