When you're in New York, North Carolina can seem small and far away - just a place that gives you an accent that makes cab drivers look at you funny. But at this year's James Beard Awards, North Carolina got big attention.

The James Beard Foundation is the nonprofit culinary organization that wraps its arms around a lot of things. There are the awards, dubbed the Oscars of the food world, covering chefs and restaurants, journalism and broadcast media and cookbooks. And the foundation does a lot of other things, like culinary scholarships and literary events.

But the May awards weekend is the big kahuna, the time when people like restaurateur Daniel Meyer and chef Daniel Boulud dress up in tuxes and someone inevitably ends up dancing on a bar or table with a big Beard medal around their neck.

After this weekend, there were dance-worthy moments for several Carolinians. The highlights:

Charlotte native James Villas got one of the biggest laughs of the weekend at the Friday night media awards when he won for his book "Pig: King of the Southern Table."

Villas has been a food writer for more than 30 years, with a shelf of books and articles in Gourmet and Saveur. When he took the stage, he declared, "Well, it's about... damn time."

When I ducked over to give him a hug, he was a lot sweeter. Villas dedicated "Pig" to me, partly because he was inspired by a project I did on country ham and partly because I was friends with his mother, the late Martha Pearl Villas of Charlotte.

"You know who I wish was here," he drawled in my ear, tears in his eyes. Yes, Jim. And I do believe Martha Pearl would have danced on a table herself.

Crook's Corner owner Gene Hamer and chef Bill Smith already knew they were winning when they came to New York. Their Chapel Hill restaurant was one of the five winners of the America's Classics awards, which recognize small, iconic restaurants around the country.

Smith was dressed for the occasion Monday night at Lincoln Center. Designer Alexander Julian made him a custom-made tuxedo with Carolina blue lining and piping.

When Smith went onstage to accept the medal, he first gave the credit to Chapel Hill for its support. Then he earned a cheer from the crowd of restaurant workers by thanking his kitchen staff in beautifully accented Spanish.

Finally, one of the big winners of the night was Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill, the only female nominee for Best Chef Southeast. (The others were John Fleer, Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley in Cashiers, N.C.; Hugh Acheson of Five and Ten in Athens, Ga.; Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta; Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky.; and Craig Deihl at Cypress in Charleston.)

By the time comedian Mo Rocca was making the Crooks Corner presentation, he was calling Chapel Hill "America's foodiest small town."

It's the whole state, Mo. Come on down.