Since the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards began in 1991 it has developed into one of the most prized culinary acknowledgments around up there with the Michelin guide.
Championing and supporting U.S. culinary culture for over 30 years, the James Beard Foundation is now a renowned name for anybody in the business. In addition to their fundraising efforts and events, their coveted food industry awards are recognition of the highest order.
Below, we’ve listed everyone in Chicago who was announced across several categories yesterday plus an appearance in the all-new Outstanding Bakery category.
Keep scrolling for this year’s semifinalists and head back in March to see the finalists and then in June to find out this year’s winners.
Outstanding Restaurant
The one Chicago restaurant featured in the Outstanding Restaurant category was West Loop’s Smyth. A semifinalist in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category last year, husband and wife duo John Shields and Karen Urie Shields have again received deserved recognition for their dual-concept Smyth + The Loyalist is built on the pair’s 30 years of culinary experience at distinguished Chicago restaurants like Alinea, Tru and Charlie Trotter’s.
It was at Charlie Trotter’s, in fact, where the two met while John Shields was working as a sous chef and Karen Urie Shields as a pastry chef. After turning down the opportunity to open a Charlie Trotter’s in Las Vegas they moved to Smyth county in Virginia from where the restaurant gets its name.
There they spent five years experimenting and earning a reputation for their local culinary endeavors before opening the dual-concept West Loop restaurant which they describe as “an homage to the depth and richness of the farmlands of Smyth County, Virginia.”
Best New Restaurant
Two Chicago restaurants were nominated in the Best New Restaurant Category: Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining and Obélix.
The first of these is headed by chef Mona Sang who has worked professionally in the Chicago area for the past 6 years having fled the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia as a child.
It’s Mona’s mother who she says is the inspiration behind her cooking and much of the reason her Cambodian cuisine has been so successful in Chicago.
Having started her career in the food industry with Lettuce Entertain You and honed her skills, Mona Sand is using Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining to provide the world with her unique flavors and creations.
The second Chicago restaurant featured in the Best New Restaurant category is the French restaurant Obélix in River North.
Set up by brothers Oliver and Nicolas Poilevey whose family is behind Bucktown’s 20-year-old Le Bouchon, Obélix opened in the space formerly inhabited by the Michelin-starred Entente last year.
Though predominantly modern French fare there are things like “Foie-co” Foie Gras tacos and various dishes with a Southeast Asian spin offering creations that have quickly earned the new restaurant an esteemed reputation.
Emerging Chef
Damarr Brown was the only Chicago representative in the Emerging Chef category. The Chef de Cuisine at Virtue graduated from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute in Chicago before cooking under Chef and Owner Erick Williams at nationally acclaimed mk for seven years.
After spending several years honing his craft at places like Roister and working under the tutelage of Michelin-starred Chef, Andrew Brochu he reunited with Williams to open Virtue in Hyde Park where his work saw him awarded Food & Wine Best New Chef in America late last year.
Outstanding Hospitality
Housed within a 19th-century print shop in West Loop, the one-Michelin-starred Sepia was nominated in the Outstanding Hospitality category.
Chef Andrew Zimmerman’s seasonally inspired rotating menu offers inventive American cuisine within a stunning setup that fuses the building’s historic beauty with modern touches around a custom-tile, Art Nouveau floor.
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
Ukrainian Village’s compact All Together Now was named among the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program semifinalists.
The popular natural wine shop, cheese counter, and all-day eatery was founded by Erin Carlman Weber and Derek Herbster in 2018 who lead it alongside chef Abigail Zielke and General Manager Jeremy Patenaude.
Plates featuring “the hard work of Chicago urban growers and Upper Midwest farms” and of course an esteemed wine list can be enjoyed at walk-ins, private tastings, classes, and parties for groups of all sizes.
Other
There were no Chicago nominations in the all-new Outstanding Bakery category nor in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, Outstanding Restaurateur, or Outstanding Bar categories, though Scratch Brewing Company in Ava, Illinois was nominated for the latter.
There was also an absence of Chicago chefs in the Outstanding Chef category but Chicago chefs received all 5 of the Illinois nominations in the Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) category.
The nominations were for:
- Diana Dávila Boldin of Mi Tocaya Antojería, Chicago, IL
- Thai Dang of HaiSous, Chicago, IL
- Paul Fehribach of Big Jones, Chicago, IL
- Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama, Chicago, IL
- Zubair Mohajir of Wazwan, Chicago, IL
Michigan was featured 8 times in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category while there were 5 nominations in Ohio and 2 in Indiana.
You can see the full list of nominees on the James Beard Foundation website here.A list of finalists will be released on Wednesday, March 16th followed by a Monday, June 5th announcement for the award winners.
[Featured image courtesy of the James Beard Foundation]