The James Beard Foundation Awards returned to Chicago on Monday after a two-year hiatus, celebrating the best and brightest of the culinary world on a national scale.
Prominent chefs and restaurateurs from across the country gathered at Lyric’s Civic Opera Building for the award ceremony, which began just as sirens began to blare in downtown Chicago for a tornado warning.
Of the nine Chicago chefs, restaurants and bars up for six awards during Monday’s ceremony, only Virtue chef-owner Erick Williams took home an award, for the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes category, which pitted him against chefs in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
The crowd cheered wildly as Williams’ name was called. He thanked his ancestors for fighting for equity long before it was a trending topic.
“Chefs stand up every day in kitchens, working in spaces that become more and more difficult every day,” Williams said during his acceptance speech. “It’s hard for us to staff, and create, and yet we continue to be committed so that we can change lives through food.”
But Williams, who was also named the Tribune’s Chef of the Year in the 2019 Dining Awards, remained humble.
“I don’t do it for awards. We do it to promote our culture and promote the wellbeing of our people,” Williams said. “I’m honored, because this is why I wake up in the morning, to make sure that our teams are able to have all the possibilities and all the chances that are available to us.”
Williams claimed the win over Chicago competitors Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe; Noah Sandoval of Oriole; and John Shields and Karen Urie Shields of Smyth; and Detroit’s Omar Anani of Saffron De Twah.
Other than Williams’ victory, the night was reminiscent of the 2018 Beard awards, when Abe Conlon of Fat Rice, now NoodleBird, was the only local chef to win. The city fared better in 2019, with baker Greg Wade, Parachute restaurant, restaurateurs Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, and the designers of the now-shuttered Pacific Standard Time taking home awards.
On Monday, Chicago finalists not taking home awards included Jason Vincent, owner and operator of Logan Square’s Giant, for Outstanding Chef; contemporary Korean restaurant Parachute, nominated for Outstanding Restaurant; and Kasama, nominated for Best New Restaurant.
Parachute, which reopened at the end of May after a two-year closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lost out to Chai Pani, based in Asheville, North Carolina. Kasama was bested by Owamni, the Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis helmed by The Sioux Chef Sean Sherman.
During his acceptance speech, Sherman focused his remarks on colonialism and uplifting chefs and other people of color.
“When we opened, we coined the term #86colonialism, because a lot of us, people of color everywhere, have gone through centuries of colonial bull—-, but we’re still here,” Sherman said. “We’re putting culture on the table; we’re putting our stories on the table.
“Our ancestors are proud tonight,” he continued. “White supremacy doesn’t like to be dismantled, but we can do it together.”
Nobody’s Darling, an Edgewater cocktail bar open less than a year that its Black women owners described as “a lesbian bar, and a gay bar, and a queer bar, and a trans bar,” was a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program, but lost out to Houston’s Julep.
Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies was nominated for Outstanding Baker, but Don Guerra of Barrio Bread in Tucson, Arizona, won.
On the red carpet, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who gave opening remarks at the event, said food and drink are central to how she celebrates a big event, such as an election night win.
“First of all, I’m going to make sure that I have great local wines,” Lightfoot said. “And I’m going to have the end of the evening with a great after-dinner drink from a Chicago distillery (and) in between, I’m going to make sure that the appetizers are tight, and tasty.”
Chicago chefs and Kasama co-owners Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores, both sported colorful suits. The couple’s acclaimed Filipino restaurant was a finalist for Best New Restaurant.
More Top Picks Best High Efficiency Washing Machines
“We knew we wanted to match,” Kwon said of the burnt sienna suits. “I think that was the only thing that we planned. Usually everybody thinks that we’re going to wear matching jumpsuits, which we did earlier today, but we decided to get a little more sophisticated.”
This year’s awards come after the foundation’s 2020 reckoning with a lack of diversity among its would-be winners. The foundation canceled its awards during the first two years of the pandemic and underwent an audit of its judging practices, pledging to become more equitable with the return of its awards this year.
Chicago took home an early victory Saturday during the James Beard Foundation Media Awards, as Kumiko bar and creative director Julia Momosé and co-author Emma Janzen won for “The Way of the Cocktail,” in the category of beverage books with recipes.
“It’s been a really tough time for us in restaurants and bars and everything, but the fact that we have this chance to share our stories through food and through drink and writing is just one of the most incredible things in the world,” Momosé said Saturday.
The foundation also named Chicago’s Erika Allen as one of its four 2022 Leadership Awards winners, honored for their work toward creating a healthier, more equitable and sustainable food system. Allen is co-founder and CEO of Urban Growers Collective, a nonprofit farm on the city’s South Side;, and co-owner of Green Era Sustainability Partners, which seeks to improve management of biodegradable waste and access to soil.