Hundreds of chefs, restaurant owners, bartenders and other culinary stars, dressed in sequins, tuxedos and chiffon, gathered at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House Monday for the 35th-annual James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony.
About two dozen people went home with silver medallions around their necks. But the real stars of the night? Immigrants.
The awards, often dubbed the Oscars of the restaurant world, were presented amid a backdrop of growing political tensions around immigration.
President Trump over the weekend walked back his aggressive immigration enforcement, instructing immigration offers to pause raids and arrests at restaurants, hotels and farms, the Association Press reported. By Monday, though, the Department of Homeland Security said it was reversing that reversal, saying agents must continue to conduct raids at restaurants, hotels and other locations, according to The Washington Post.
The current political climate was top of mind for virtually every presenter and James Beard Award recipient Monday night, many of whom were immigrants or children of immigrants themselves.
At least three recipients and presenters used some of their stage time to declare, “Fuck ICE.”
And many more shared their own immigrant stories, with some unfurling flags from their home countries and others dressed in traditional clothing.
“The story of how I ended up on this stage is an unlikely one but not an uncommon one,” said Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie’s in Austin, Texas, winner of the Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service award, one of three new beverage awards presented this year. “It’s the story of undocumented immigrants. I remember feeling like the walls could close in at any minute when I was undocumented, the ever-present fear of having my family ripped away from me … For all the bad people in this world, my life has taught me there are far more good ones. Restaurant workers are the best of humanity.”
Jon Kato of Kato in Los Angeles, winner of Best Chef: California, said his restaurant tells “stories of immigrants.”
“LA is a city built by the toils of immigrant communities, and right now, those communities are being ripped apart,” Kato said.
Many also recognized the bittersweet moment of holding a celebration when so many troubling things are happening in their communities.
“How can you celebrate when the times are so challenging?” Ethiopian-born chef Marcus Samuelsson, an eight-time Beard Award winner, said. “I think about the people not in this room who are scared right now.”
This year’s Beard Awards come at a time of “discord, challenge and fear,” James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach said.
“That’s why it’s so important to remember the agency we possess,” Reichenbach said. “We’re connecting tonight in our shared humanity and the celebration of food in its unique power to unite.”
Chefs, she added, are the “keepers and shapers of culture, rooted in indigenous, enslaved and immigrant DNA.”
It was just three years ago that the Beard Awards returned for the first time since the pandemic, after undergoing a radical reimagining of its internal and external programs to focus on diversity and equity. The organization revised its mission statement to include a commitment to racial and gender equity, community and environmental sustainability; added a requirement that award winners must promote that mission; and implemented widespread changes to the judging process, including diversity, equity and inclusion training for all.
Here are the recipients of the 35th-annual James Beard Awards:
Outstanding Restaurateur: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d'Or, and Le Rock, New York
Outstanding Chef: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York
Outstanding Restaurant: Frasca Food and Wine; Boulder, Colorado
Emerging Chef: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia
Best New Restaurant: Bûcheron, Minneapolis
Outstanding Bakery: JinJu Patisserie, Portland
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa
Outstanding Hospitality: Atomix, New York
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Charleston, Baltimore
Outstanding Bar: Kumiko, Chicago
Best New Bar: Identidad Cocktail Bar; San Juan, Puerto Rico
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, Superbueno, New York
Best Chef California: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles
Best Chef Great Lakes: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago
Best Chef Mid-Atlantic: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.
Best Chef Midwest: Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul
Best Chef Mountain: Salvador Alamilla; Amano; Caldwell, Idaho
Best Chef New York State: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York
Best Chef Northeast: Sky Haneul Kim; Gift Horse; Providence, Rhode Island
Best Chef Northwest and Pacific: Timothy Wastell; Antica Terra; Amity, Oregon
Best Chef South: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami
Best Chef Southeast: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville
Best Chef Southwest: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix
Best Chef Texas: Thomas Bille; Belly of the Beast; Spring, Texas
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