Chicago chef Jacob Potashnick took home the city’s sole James Beard Award at Monday night’s ceremony, held at Downtown’s Lyric Opera House, calling it a win for Chicago and a win for local farmers who supply him.
Potashnick won in the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes category, in which fellow Chicagoan Norman Fenton of Cariño was also a finalist.
Often called the “Oscars of the food world,” the ceremony brought celebrities like Killer Mike and El-P of hip-hop duo Run the Jewels and Jon Bon Jovi to town, along with leading chefs from across the country.
Monday’s ceremony was hosted by “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons. Throughout the evening, winners and presenters underscored the importance of how the industry is withstanding challenges from immigration enforcement campaigns to rising costs.
Potashnick, who mounted a culinary comeback after early stumbles in 2024 after opening Feld, which was awarded a coveted Michelin star in November, said it’s been his focus to run a sustainable operation. That includes a four-day workweek, plus offering employees health and dental insurance and contracting with local farmers — some of whom were the first to congratulate him by text message. “Feld would not exist without them,” said Potashnick, who sported a suit and white Nike sneakers.
Potashnick said when he was first starting out, he emailed 40 chefs asking for advice, and early on, Chicagoans like Grant Achatz of Alinea offered him words of support. Now, Potashnick is thinking about how he can pay it forward.
“I think when you win something like this, the next step is figuring out how to support other people in the industry, so that they get this opportunity as well,” Potashnick said.
“We have been so lucky, we have had such a light shined on us at Feld, and it’s an honor, and I’m not always sure why we won that spotlight lottery. So it’s now partially my job to point that spotlight at other restaurants and other chefs and make sure that I’m sharing that light.”
Potashnick said he planned to celebrate the win with “a drink or two,” but added, “I got work in the morning.”
Another theme of the night was the looming question of whether Chicago can keep the glitzy awards that bring industry leaders to town and put the city’s restaurant scene on a national stage.
The Beards have been hosted in Chicago since 2015, after moving from New York. In 2018, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel spearheaded an effort to keep the ceremony in Chicago an additional nine years — through 2027. Earlier this spring, the James Beard Foundation and Choose Chicago announced an additional one-year extension, which will keep the awards here through 2028, but the event’s home beyond that is unknown.
Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, called Chicago the foundation’s “home away from home” on the red carpet. “We love Chicago. We love this city. This is our 11th year here. The way the city comes out and the graciousness of the hospitality is unsurpassed.”
Asked about whether the awards will remain in Chicago long term, Reichenbach said, “We’re here for at least another two years. So we’re rejoicing in that, and then we’ll see.”
This year, the Beard Foundation, named for the American chef who died in 1985, is celebrating its 40th anniversary of “championing the independent restaurant industry and shaping American food culture.”
During the ceremony, Kristen Reynolds, Choose Chicago’s president and CEO, also made the case for the city, saying, “There is no better city for these awards than Chicago.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said from the red carpet that he will push to keep the awards in Chicago. He also touched on another theme of the evening: the importance of immigrants to the industry.
“At a time in which we are working to protect humanity, protect immigrants and undocumented individuals that play an incredible role in our hospitality, in our restaurant industry, I think it’s imperative that we hold it here, because it sends a strong message to the rest of the country and the rest of the world that we will not flinch, cower or break,” Johnson said.
Gov. JB Pritzker also underscored the importance of diversity to the industry in his remarks at the podium, saying: “Illinois was built by generations of families from every corner of the world, carrying recipes and traditions and stories with them. You can taste the globe in Chinatown, in Polish communities, in our Greek communities, in South Asian, Middle Eastern, Korean, Vietnamese, African, Caribbean and countless other communities that have enriched our state.”
“Many of the communities have been under siege by the president of the United States,” Pritzker said, then added to loud applause: “I will always stand against these attacks on our people.”
For Chicago finalist Norman Fenton, that message is personal. He arrived on the red carpet on Monday with his wife, Karina Garcia, and their 11-year-old son, Osman, and 3-year-old son, Robert, decked out in classic vaquero outfits. After what Fenton called a “grueling” immigration process, his wife and children arrived in the U.S. just six months ago.
“Over the past four and a half years, my wife’s been going through an immigration process. My kids and wife are from Cancun, they’re born in Cancun,” said Fenton, who also has a restaurant in Tulum.
“Honestly, words are really hard to describe right now. A lot more emotions than anything, but super, super exciting,” Fenton said. “It’s really awesome because a lot of moments for the restaurant, we haven’t been able to share in-person as a family, so this is very special.”
Along with Potashnick and Fenton, Chicagoan Bailey Sullivan of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio was a finalist on Monday in the emerging chef category. That award went to Adrian Torres, of the restaurant Maximo in West University Place, Texas, in the Houston area.
Sullivan, a La Grange native, appeared in season 22 of “Top Chef.” On the red carpet, Sullivan said she was “beyond ecstatic” to help represent her hometown at the awards. “I just couldn’t be more proud of being a Chicago native and supporting this town and just bringing a little life to the city,” Sullivan said.
Chef Dave Beran, who spent years working at Chicago’s Alinea and Next, won a Beard Award Monday for Best Chef: California, where he now runs his restaurant Seline in Santa Monica.
Multiple James Beard Award winner Rick Bayless said Monday that the Beards are “a really important thing for Chicago.”
Chicago may not be the “flashiest city in the country” compared to New York or Las Vegas, but “we’re solid and solid to the core,” he added. “We are the people who do great food, it’s one of the reasons I settled in Chicago. We do great food, and we do great food consistently.”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.