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For the first time since 2019, the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony is back in Chicago. Weeks after the James Beard Foundation announced the year’s slate of chef and restaurant finalists, the results are in, and chefs, restaurateurs, and other hospitality world insiders have gathered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the splashy, red carpet event, with chef Kwame Onwuachi as host. (There was even a classic behind-the-scenes cold open, and Onwuachi delivered an opening monologue, complete with a joke about the Oscars slap.)
Following the pandemic-induced hiatus and a 2020 controversy that raised questions about the integrity of the awards, the James Beard Foundation has made a number of changes, conducting an audit and subsequently diversifying the committees involved with the judging process. This year, the awards categories are also different than in pre-pandemic years, with an eye towards greater inclusivity.
The Rising Star Chef of the Year award is now called Emerging Chef. Edgar Rico, chef and co-owner of Austin’s Nixta Taqueria, took home that award, which no longer has any age restrictions. Chef Katie Button’s Asheville restaurant Cúrate won for Outstanding Hospitality, the award that’s taken the place of Outstanding Service and now recognizes a restaurant that makes “efforts to provide a sustainable work culture,” along with public-facing service. Plus, there’s no Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional award this year.
The regional categories were also shuffled in order to recognize more chefs: California, New York, and Texas now each comprise their own regional Best Chef categories, leaving room for a wider geographical spread of nominees in the West, Northeast, and Southwest categories. The award for California kicked off the regional categories, with Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco winning the first Best Chef award of the night. Later, Austin saw another win as Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo accepted the Best Chef award for Texas, and Chintan Pandya won Best Chef: New York State (a category dominated entirely by nominees from New York City) for Dhamaka.
Straight ahead, find out who’s won so far, and be sure to check back as awards are announced throughout the evening.
2022 James Beard Award Chef and Restaurant Winners
Emerging Chef
Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria, Austin, Texas
Outstanding Baker
Don Guerra, Barrio Bread, Tucson, Arizona
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Pâtisserie, Detroit
Outstanding Wine Program
The Four Horsemen, New York
Outstanding Bar Program
Julep, Houston
Best Chef: California
Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
Fernando Olea, Sazón, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Dane Baldwin, The Diplomat, Milwaukee
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Caroline Glover, Annette, Aurora, Colorado
Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
Robynne Maii, Fête, Honolulu
Best Chef: Texas
Iliana de la Vega, El Naranjo, Austin, Texas
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Cristina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa, Philadelphia
Best Chef: New York State
Chintan Pandya, Dhamaka, New York
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, Birmingham, Alabama
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Ricky Moore, SALTBOX Seafood Joint, Durham, North Carolina
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
Nisachon Morgan, Saap, Randolph, Vermont
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Erick Williams, Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Chicago
Outstanding Hospitality
Cúrate, Asheville, North Carolina
Best New Restaurant
Owamni, Minneapolis
Outstanding Restaurateur
Chris Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco, and Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix
The following wins were previously announced:
America’s Classics
Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks, California
Corinne’s Place, Camden, New Jersey
Solly’s Grille, Milwaukee
Wo Hop, New York
The Busy Bee Cafe, Atlanta
Florence’s Restaurant, Oklahoma City
2022 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
Martin Yan
2022 James Beard Humanitarian of the Year
Grace Young
2022 Leadership Awards
Monica Ramirez of Justice for Migrant Women
Irene Li of Mei Mei Dumplings and Prepshift
Erika Allen of Urban Growers Collective
Mavis-Jay Sanders of Drive Change
The Media Awards took place on June 11, read the full winners list here.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.