The Noriega Hotel Basque restaurant in Bakersfield, CA received the James Beard Foundation award that is reserved for the best chefs and restaurants in the US. The Noriega was founded in 1893 by Faustino Noriega and Fernando Etcheverry, and was voted the best restaurant in the America’s Classics category, which pays tribute to locally owned establishments that have played a crucial role in a community for over a decade. Owners, Rochelle Ladd and Linda McCoy, attended the awards ceremony last Monday in New York along with some of the country's leading chefs.
New York, NY. The annual James Beard Foundation Awards were celebrated on May 9th at New York City’s Lincoln Center. These awards are reserved for the best chefs and restaurants in the US. Among these renown chefs and restaurants were the owners of the Noriega Hotel in Bakersfield, which was named best restaurant in the America’s Classics category. Rochelle Ladd and Linda McCoy, owners of this familiar hotel-restaurant, never imagined themselves in such a situation, but in spite of their ceremony nerves, they enjoyed an evening with stars such as Jose Andrés, voted Outstanding Chef. In an article in the New York Times about Rochelle’s and Linda’s experience in the Big Apple the quality of traditional Basque cooking was noted.
The Noriega Hotel was founded in 1893 by Faustino Noriega and Faustino Etcheverry. In 1931 the business transferred to Juan and Gracianna Elizalde and since then has remained in the family (Ladd and McCoy are Rochelle’s and Linda’s married names). Originally it was a hotel, but Noriega soon converted it into an all male hostel that was frequented by Basque sheepherders in the area. Many in the area still define it as the “best bachelor hotel. “
In 1940, the hotel’s restaurant’s success, owing to traditional Basque recipes, motivated the owners to add the restaurant to the building with a communal dining room. Lunches and dinners are still served at specific times and diners share tables, like one big family. The Noriega Hotel is considered the oldest, and maybe the last, boarding house restaurant in the world.
Noriega Hotel’s website, here.
Video by the James Beard Foundation provides a tour of the Noriega Hotel, and interviews with its owners and customers.
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