chefshop.com

Best Gourmet Grocer/Food Hall
The Readers Choice nominees for Best Gourmet Grocer/Food Hall include one that started out with a small store in Texas and today, has more than 270 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. An Ohio-based nominee is family-owned and operated that is recognized for its great food and service. Two nominees are New York institutions offering gourmet foods from around the world. Last, but not least, there's an opulent Food Hall in London that is known worldwide for the sheer volume and selection of its international goods all presented in breathtaking displays.

Dean & DeLuca
Dorothy Lane Market
Harrods Food Hall
Whole Foods
Zabar's

Best Online Gourmet Food
The Readers' Choice nominees for the Best Online Gourmet Food include a New York institution with a staff that travel the world in search of great artisan-produced foods. A Seattle-based nominee was launched by a group of passionate food-lovers committed to the best artisan-produced, sustainable foods while another nominee is a family-owned operation that originated from three generations of cheese importers. A Michigan-based nominee is a collection of local businesses, each with its own food specialty. Finally, the Philadelphia-based nominee celebrates the European roots of its two founders with a wide array of gourmet meats, cheeses, oils, and other goods from around the world.

ChefShop.com
Dean & DeLuca
Di Bruno Brothers
iGourmet.com
Zingerman's Mail Order

Best Caviar Retailer
The Readers' Choice nominees for Best Caviar Retailer include award-winning brands from Europe and the United States with each offering the highest of quality. Several offer some of the finest Russian caviar to be found, while one is a proponent of sustainably harvested roe with its own tank-farming system.

Caviarteria
Caviar House & Prunier
Caviar Russe
Petrossian
Tsar Nicoulai Caviar

Best Bread Bakery
The Readers' Choice nominees for Best Bread Bakery include companies that have been producing bread for decades. One opened more than 70 years ago and is now an institution in Paris, while another was launched in Belgium before expanding around the world. A Los Angeles-based nominee has developed more than 100 varieties of award-winning breads. The Philadelphia-based nominee features artisanal breads and the baked goods of the Ann Arbor-based nominee are known throughout the Midwest.

La Brea Bakery
Le Pain Quotidien
Max Poilaine
Metropolitan Bakery
Zingerman's Bakehouse

Best Cheese Shop
The Readers' Choice nominees are among the most respected shops in the world. These cheese shops, offer a full range of both international and domestic artisanal cheeses. They are the destinations for serious cheese lovers and chefs who are in search of the best.

Farmstead
Formaggio Kitchen
Murray's Cheese
Neal's Yard Dairy
Pastoral

ChefShop.com is nominated for a Luxist Award in the Best Online Gourmet Food category.

Located in Seattle, ChefShop.com was started ten years ago in 1999 by a group of people that wanted to change the way people thought about and approached their food. The company's mission is to find the best, healthiest foods and goods from artisans and traditional small farmers around the world and bring them to consumers in the U.S. Chefshop.com is fighting against mass market food production and unsustainable farming practices in hopes of fostering the sale of healthier foods with more flavor and value. ChefShop.com is especially proud of the fact that they work directly with their chosen producers and as a result get the freshest, most flavorful goods possible.

Chefshop.com has both a mail-order website and a brick-and-mortar retail store in Seattle. The store also opened in 1999 and offers, in addition to its many shelves of baked and grocery goods, tasting bars for olive oil, jams, honeys, sea salts, and vinegar. The website, on the other hand, is especially shopper-friendly thanks to options of shopping not only by keyword or category but also by recipe and by what's fresh that day.

Goods must meet several stringent criteria before ChefShop.com will consider carrying them and to date their selection exceeds 1000 items from all over the world.

Vote now for what you believe is the best of breed in Gourmet Foods. Readers' Choice Awards for Food will be announced on November 30th.

Gallery: More from ChefShop.com