At the 2026 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, the highest culinary honors in the United States, Jacob Potashnick, chef and owner of Feld, was the city’s sole winner at Monday night’s ceremony at Lyric Opera.
“This is a childhood dream come true … never in my wildest dreams,” Potashnick said moments after he was announced the winner in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category. “I’ve often said that Feld is a restaurant where I tell other people’s stories and that’s down to the chopsticks, not just the food — it’s the tableware and the paintings. It’s so important that people understand that it’s a restaurant that’s special because we are sharing other people’s stories.”
Potashnick, 33, said he set out to create a restaurant driven by the produce and product coming from growers, dairy farmers, fishermen and ranchers. That relationship with Feld’s carefully sourced network of purveyors is directly translated onto a plate, where courses can be tiny, from a teeny teacup of hot chicken broth infused with an aged Alpine cheese from Pleasant Ridge Reserve, to a small serving of smoked sunchokes or a bean-to-bar chocolate mousse. The kitchen and its ever-evolving menu are unique, Potashnick said, and it’s a testament to his team that it somehow works.
“I always bring it back to the team because every one of these recognitions doesn’t allow just me to call my mom and go ‘we did it,’ but it allows my team to call their moms and say ‘we did it!’” he said. “But if our guests don’t like their meal, none of this matters. What matters is every day we come in grounded and ready to put in the work and be our best.”
The ceremony, hosted by “Top Chef” judge, author and producer Gail Simmons, marked a major milestone with the James Beard Foundation’s 40th anniversary. Celebrity chefs and TV personalities presented the most prestigious awards in the U.S. restaurant industry, filling the gaps with messages of resilience while celebrating the tireless contributions of immigrants in hospitality. Many winners spoke of their immigrant roots and the power of coming together.
During remarks at the beginning of the evening, Gov. JB Pritzker was quick to issue a resounding rejection of the Trump administration’s suppression of immigrant communities in Chicago and across the country.
“Many of these communities have been under siege by the president of the United States. I will always stand against these attacks on our people,” Pritzker said. “Illinois has a deep and lengthy tradition of coming together through food. That is the spirit of this gathering tonight.”
Communities of color and immigrant-heavy neighborhoods in Chicago faced mounting challenges over the last year, specifically in restaurant work or other hospitality jobs that rely on a sizable immigrant workforce. The looming presence of federal immigration enforcement during Operation Midway Blitz led to empty storefronts and deep cuts to revenue, while supply chain constraints caused surging operational costs. Restaurant owners in Little Village, for example, have said restaurants were “dying a slow death” at the height of immigration raids, resulting in a crisis that businesses are still climbing out of. Despite that, businesses also stood up for themselves and their patrons, posting up doorway signs denying agents entry or donating proceeds to immigrant advocacy groups despite low profits.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson, who emphasized Chicago as a culinary hub with 77 unique neighborhoods, said the James Beard Awards are an invaluable opportunity to lift up the city’s hospitality industry at a time when restaurants and food systems face challenges.
“We are proud of our immigrants and undocumented immigrant community who have played an incredible role in the restaurant industry,” Johnson said onstage. “As long as I’m mayor of the city of Chicago, we will never bend or submit to authoritarianism.”
Potashnick was presented the award for Best Chef: Great Lakes by Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, chefs and owners of Parachute HiFi and Anelya.
Chicago has more wins in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category, which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, than any other city. Last year, it went to Noah Sandoval of Oriole. In 2023, Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama took home the win in the category, while Erick Williams of Virtue won in 2022.
The city has historically fared well at the James Beard Awards, typically winning at least one medal each year the awards are given. The last time Chicago had only one James Beard Award winner was in 2024, when the Outstanding Hospitality award went to Lula Cafe in Logan Square.
Even as the city rolled out the red carpet for the restaurant industry’s biggest night, ongoing controversy remains over Chicago’s tipped minimum wage workers and their advocates.
Chicago passed legislation in 2023 to gradually eliminate the tip credit, a move that would force employers to pay all tipped workers the same standard minimum wage. But less than a month ago, intense debates and City Hall arguments resulted in a compromise that delayed the end of the tipped minimum wage for two years and put a scheduled pay hike on pause until 2028 or longer if a business has fewer than 21 employees.
Supporters of the measure tout the compromise as a way to protect the health of Chicago’s hospitality industry, while opponents say it will harm the city’s most vulnerable restaurant workers.
During a time when the restaurant industry faces growing challenges, from immigration crackdowns to low wages, Potashnick’s win underscores the role of fine dining restaurants that “try to do the right thing.”
“I designed Feld under the mindset of wanting my employees to be incredibly well paid, I wanted them to have health insurance … we do a service charge in place of gratuity because it acts as revenue sharing,” Potashnick said to the Tribune. “I like to think Feld does things the right way with how we compensate our team and I think the more people can see that you can run a successful business while doing proper compensation, the more likely they are as owners to open a restaurant that does the same.”
Potashnick has experienced a whirlwind two years since opening his Ukrainian Village restaurant in 2024. Feld earned its first Michelin star in 2025. The restaurant also won Jean Banchet Awards this year for Best New Restaurant and Best Hospitality, and recently received a Tribune Critic’s Choice award for its culinary execution and ambitious menu.
“Everybody wants to know what’s next, but the core of Feld forever has always been just trying to make ourselves better tomorrow than we were today,” Potashnick said. “My goal is to keep making Feld the best restaurant. I love being there, I love working there, I love my team. I just want to continue to watch it grow and develop.”
Chicago had semifinalists in almost every major category this year, including nine for Best Chef: Great Lakes. The three Chicago nominees going into Monday night were narrowed down from 23 Chicago semifinalists.
The other Chicago nominee in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category was Norman Fenton of Cariño. Fenton, who opened Uptown’s Cariño in 2023 with restaurateur Karen Young, has put together a modernist Latin-inspired tasting menu alongside a late-night taco omakase. Fenton, originally from Detroit, celebrates Mexican cuisine ambitiously, with dishes like huitlacoche ravioli with fried corn silk, brightly colored aguachile or a queso truffle quesadilla. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star within a year of opening.
Fenton walked the red carpet with his wife and two boys, something he said meant more than anything else.
“I’m going to tear up just thinking … I am so grateful that we can spend this night together,” Fenton told the Tribune on Monday. “It’s more than getting this award … it means more than getting a Michelin star. I’d throw it all away to have this moment with my family.”
Fenton’s wife, Karina García, lived in Mexico with their sons for four years while the family waited through an immigration process. They finally received their green cards at the end of September last year.
Fenton will soon open the doors to his tortillería, Molino Los Hermanos. His new dual-concept business, which will be next door to Cariño, will feature a retail side with a double volcanic stone mill where customers can purchase house-made, wholesale tortillas and a 24-seat chef’s counter on the other side. Molino Los Hermanos will be more accessible to diners with no reservations and price points that are more wallet-friendly.
The Emerging Chef award, in which Monteverde’s Bailey Sullivan was a nominee, went to Adrian Torres, chef of Maximo in West University Place, Texas. Torres loudly declared, “I’m proud to be an immigrant,” as he accepted the award, recounting his family’s journey to get to the culinary industry’s biggest night.
Sullivan, a first-time James Beard Award nominee, gained widespread recognition as a finalist on Season 22 of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” but she’s put in years as a line and pasta cook at Monteverde in the West Loop, where she helped shape the restaurant’s evolving approach to Italian cooking.
As she walked the red carpet alongside Sarah Grueneberg, chef and owner of Monteverde, Sullivan took a minute to process the experiences that led to her nomination and what she hopes to instill in the younger chefs in the kitchen.
“I have to think about my line cooks, I have to think about the next generation — everyone wants everything now, with things like TikTok and the thought process of ‘I can be a sous chef in a day, right?’” Sullivan said. “But it takes practice, practice, practice, practice. You have to fail, and you have to work through it, and you have to find your way to succeed … enjoy where you are right now, because when you take the next step, you’re going to miss it.”
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Before the ceremony, Johnson said his administration will continue to work with the James Beard Foundation to keep the awards in Chicago beyond 2028.
The Beards have been held annually in Chicago since 2015. The current deal with Chicago was to expire in 2027 and there was speculation that the awards could move. But the new agreement ensures the ceremony remains at the Lyric Opera at least through the 2027 and 2028 award cycles.
“Our palette here in Chicago is second to none — I believe keeping these awards right here sends a powerful message to the rest of the country that we’re not going to flinch or let anyone disrupt what we know to be true and that is that everyone belongs. This is a welcoming city and the best place for these types of awards.”
Though Potashnick was the only Chicago winner at the Restaurant and Chef awards on Monday, Chicago did get one other James Beard accolade this year. On Saturday, former Tribune reporter Ahmed Ali Akbar won a James Beard Media Award in the Foodways category, which celebrates culture and history in food journalism, for his story about bean pies and their significance to Black Muslims.
The full list of winners
Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres of Maximo in West University Place, Texas
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit in Washington, D.C.
Outstanding Bakery: Wild Crumb in Bozeman, Montana
Best New Bar: Loma in Providence, Rhode Island
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Kevin Diedrich of Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco
Humanitarian of the Year Award: Othón Nolasko and Damián Diaz of the No Us Without You organization in Los Angeles
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Kato in Los Angeles
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Lee Campbell of Borgo in New York City
Outstanding Bar: Scotch Lodge in Portland, Oregon
Best Chef: Great Lakes: Jacob Potashnick of Feld in Chicago
Best Chef: Southwest: Sarah Thompson of Casa Playa in Las Vegas
Best Chef: Mountain: Penelope Wong of Yuan Wonton in Denver
Best Chef: Northeast: Evan Hennessey of Stages in Dover, New Hampshire
Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific: Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro in Portland
Best Chef: Midwest: Loryn Nalic of Balkan Treat Box in Webster Groves, Missouri
Best Chef: South: Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA in New Orleans
Best Chef: Texas: Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu of JŪN in Houston
Best Chef: New York State: Hooni Kim, Meju, New York City
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Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic: Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya in Philadelphia
Best Chef: Southeast: Taylor Montgomery of Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester, North Carolina
Best Chef: California: Dave Beran of Seline in Santa Monica, California
Best New Restaurant: Lei in New York City
Lifetime Achievement Award: Nancy Silverton
Outstanding Hospitality: Providence in Los Angeles
Outstanding Restaurateur: Dana Street of Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking Co. and others in Portland, Maine
Outstanding Restaurant: Kalaya in Philadelphia
Outstanding Chef: Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco
America’s Classics: The Serving Spoon in Inglewood, California; Oyster House in Philadelphia; Johnny’s Cafe in Omaha, Nebraska; Eng’s in Kingston, New York; Figaretti’s Italian Restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia; and Bob Taylor’s Ranch House in Las Vegas