James Beard Awards in Chicago: Our live blog tracks big moments, from red carpet to Chicago wins

The James Beard Foundation Awards return to Chicago on Monday after a two-year hiatus, celebrating the best and brightest of the culinary world on a national scale.

Chicago Tribune food critics Louisa Chu and Nick Kindelsperger will be on the scene Monday, providing live coverage as prominent chefs and restaurateurs from across the country gather at Lyric’s Civic Opera Building for the award ceremony. Follow them on Twitter, and check back here for live updates throughout the night.

Scroll down to watch live video from the ceremony.

9:03 p.m.

The final award, for Outstanding Chef, goes to Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. That means Chicago has repeated the 2018 experience of winning a single award for the night, which went to chef Erick Williams of Virtue for Best Chef in the Great Lakes region.

8:57 p.m.

As the second-to-last award of the night is given out, Chicago appears to be in for a repeat of 2018, during which city restaurants and chefs were shut out of every category except Best Chef: Great Lakes.

Parachute restaurant, which reopened at the end of May after two years of being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lost out to Chai Pani, based in Asheville, North Carolina.

8:52 p.m.

Chicago’s Kasama restaurant didn’t take home the prize for Best New Restaurant, which went to Owamni restaurant of Minneapolis.

At Owamni, chef Sean Sherman draws inspiration from Indigenous cuisine and staffs his restaurant with nearly all Indigenous chefs and workers.

When asked about the many people who burst into tears dining at Owamni, Sherman responded, “It really happens quite a bit, because it can be just a little bit overwhelming emotionally, especially for a lot of people coming from an Indigenous community who have never been to an Indigenous restaurant before. So it’s really touching. And we see it all the time.”

During his acceptance speech, Sherman focused his remarks on colonialism and uplifting chefs and other people of color.

“Our ancestors are proud tonight,” he said. “White supremacy doesn’t like to be dismantled, but we can do it together.”

8:20 p.m.

Chef Erick Williams of Virtue Restaurant in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, wins Best Chef: Great Lakes, a category that includes chefs from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

The crowd cheered wildly as Williams’ name was called out. 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 after Chicago’s first win of the night.

“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.”

7:45 p.m.

As regional best chef awards progress, Chicago finalists will be last in the lineup as four of the five finalists in the Great Lakes category.

Until then, a few observations from Tribune critic Nick Kindelsperger: Christian Clemenson, the actor who played James Beard in the recent TV show, Julia, was on stage to deliver the awards for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific and Best Chef: Texas.

Dawn Padmore, vice president of awards for the James Beard Foundation, led a moment of silence for all the restaurant workers who lost their lives during the pandemic.

And a little more on those killer suits from Kasama chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores: “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.”

7:02 p.m.

The second category with a Chicago finalist is Outstanding Bar Program. The national award went to Houston’s Julep.

Nobody’s Darling, a queer bar in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, became a finalist within its first year, a rare achievement. Read more from the Tribune’s Josh Noel on how the fledgling bar took flight.

6:45 p.m.

The first James Beard Award with a Chicago finalist is Outstanding Baker, which goes to Don Guerra of Barrio Bread in Tucson, Arizona. The Chicago nominee was Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies.

6:30 p.m.

Tornado sirens blared through the streets of downtown Chicago just as the James Beard Foundation Awards began.

The ceremony began nonetheless, with Mayor Lori Lightfoot welcoming guests with opening remarks.

Lightfoot was excited to speak at the event, the first that she’s been able to attend in person, she said: “Let’s continue to support our restaurants, from the mom and pop diners to James Beard award winners.”

6 p.m.

The pre-event red carpet featured Chicago nominees and other notable figures.

Chicago chefs and Kasama co-owners Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores, both sported colorful suits. The couple’s acclaimed Filipino restaurant is a finalist for Best New Restaurant.

“It’s such an honor to be nominated,” Flores said.

On the red carpet, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said food and drink are central to how she celebrates a big event, like 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 in between, I’m going to make sure that the appetizers are tight, and tasty.”

Watch live:

Earlier coverage

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.

Nine Chicago chefs, restaurants and bars are up for six awards. Among the nominees for national awards are 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.

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,” is a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program.

Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies is nominated for Outstanding Baker.

Chicago also has four of the five Best Chef nominations from the Great Lakes region: Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe; Noah Sandoval of Oriole; John Shields and Karen Urie Shields of Smyth; and Erick Williams of Virtue Restaurant & Bar.

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.

More Tribune coverage of Beard award finalists:

• Nobody’s Darling became a national James Beard finalist in less than a year — here’s how the fledgling queer bar took flight

• Chicago’s lesbian bars aren’t dying out — they’re evolving

• Review: Kasama was supposed to be a neighborhood cafe. It’s become one of the best restaurants in the world.

• Filipino restaurants are thriving in Chicago, despite pandemic hardships: ‘So many people of different colors are coming in.’

• Parachute relaunches, Publican Quality Bread rises, plus more new Chicago restaurants

• ‘I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.’ Two years after COVID-19 shutdown, chefs and restaurant operators look back — and ahead.

• Chicago cocktail legend Julia Momosé shows you how to make drinks from her native Japan in new book

• Oriole, award-winning West Loop restaurant, triples space — but not seats — and will add upstairs Airbnb

• Virtue chef Erick Williams opening po’boy restaurant in Hyde Park

• February 2021: ‘We’re in survival mode,’ says Virtue’s Erick Williams. Here’s how Chicago’s Black-owned restaurants are faring during the pandemic.

• Maya-Camille Broussard goes global in inspiring new documentary film series

• 2019 review: Virtue serves up Southern charm in winning combo of technique, nostalgia, personality

• 2016 Oriole review: Fledgling restaurant’s menu soars to 4-star heights

• 2016 review: Giant is a massive hit in Logan Square

• 2016 review: Lula Cafe still setting the standard in Logan Square

• 2016 review: Smyth is a triumphant return to Chicago for chefs John and Karen Shields

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