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The annual James Beard Awards return tonight to Chicago. The so-called “Oscars of the food world” will take place at Downtown’s Lyric Opera House, beginning with culinary stars from across the country walking the red carpet.
While the ceremony is sold out, food lovers can tune into the event from home, via a livestream on Bon Appétit’s website. The awards get underway at 6 p.m., but you can follow coverage of the red carpet beforehand, including on WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times’ Instagram accounts.
The ceremony brings together food industry talent from across the country (think: Andrew Zimmern and head judge of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” Tom Colicchio), plus local chefs like Beverly Kim, Johnny Clark, and Erick Williams and local elected officials.
Together, it all adds up to a buzzy, glitzy night. The ceremony itself will be hosted by “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons, with appearances from actors Issa Rae and Luke Tennie and performers such as Killer Mike and EL-P of the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels.
Among this year’s finalists are three Chicago chefs. Bailey Sullivan, of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, is a finalist in the emerging chef category. Sullivan, a La Grange native, appeared in season 22 of “Top Chef.” She has worked at chef Sarah Grueneberg’s West Loop Italian restaurant for a decade.
Chicago’s other finalists are Norman Fenton of Cariño in Uptown and Jacob Potashnick of Feld in Ukrainian Village in the regional Best Chef Great Lakes category.
They look to join Chicago’s two winners last year: West Loop dining bar Kumiko and chef Noah Sandoval of fine dining restaurant Oriole.
The awards are put on by the New York-based James Beard Foundation, which is named for the American chef who died in 1985. This year, the foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary of “championing the independent restaurant industry and shaping American food culture.”
“The James Beard Awards weekend is one of the biggest moments of the year for the culinary industry — a rare chance for the people who define American food culture to come together in celebration,” Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, said in a statement.
The awards 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 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.
Other Midwest finalists for this year’s prizes include chef Zak Baker of Ca’Lucchenzo in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and chef Shigeyuki Furukawa of Kado No Mise in Minneapolis. They are both finalists in the regional Best Chef Midwest category (that category includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Wisconsin. Chicago is the Great Lakes region, along with Indiana, Michigan and Ohio).
Milwaukee’s 1033 Omakase is up for Best New Restaurant, Cultured in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, is a finalist in the Outstanding Bakery category and Detroit’s Bar Chenin is among the nominees for Best New Bar.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.