On Monday, June 15, the James Beard Basis revealed the remaining winners of the 2026 James Beard Awards at its annual ceremony in Chicago, bringing the restaurant business’s biggest annual honors to a detailed after months of anticipation. The awards, extensively thought-about among the many highest accolades for cooks and restaurateurs in the US, acknowledge excellence throughout classes spanning Excellent Restaurant, Greatest New Restaurant, Excellent Chef, and regional Greatest Chef awards, in addition to America’s Classics and different classes. This 12 months’s host is cookbook creator and Prime Chef host Gail Simmons, and the occasion happened on the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
This night’s Restaurant and Chef Awards comply with the muse’s Media Awards bulletins this previous weekend, which celebrated achievements in cookbooks, journalism, broadcast, social media, and different meals storytelling. The 2026 restaurant and chef finalists have been introduced on March 31, narrowing down a area that included honorees from throughout the nation.
The inspiration beforehand acknowledged a number of 2026 honorees exterior of tonight’s aggressive classes, together with No Us With out You founders Damián Diaz and Othón Nolasco, who acquired the Humanitarian of the 12 months Award, and chef and restaurateur Nancy Silverton, who was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The recipients of this 12 months’s Affect Award have been the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Basis, New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, ReFED, and the Southern Smoke Basis.
Prime honors went to Michael Tusk of San Francisco’s Quince (Excellent Chef), Philadelphia’s Kalaya (Excellent Restaurant), Adrian Torres of Maximo (Rising Chef), New York Metropolis’s Lei (Greatest New Restaurant), Bozeman, Montana bakery Wild Crumb (Excellent Bakery), and Windfall, Rhode Island bar Loma (Greatest New Bar), amongst others.
The star-studded occasion featured appearances from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson, hip hop duo Run the Jewels, and extra acquainted faces from politics and tradition. Heartfelt speeches from each presenters and winners emphasised the immeasurable contributions immigrants have made to America, and particularly to the world of meals and eating. “Our business is an business of immigrants,” stated No Us With out You co-founder Damian Díaz. “Immigrants are what make this America nice… the system, as damaged as it’s, is carried by immigrant arms.”
Different moments have been extra lighthearted; two-time James Beard Award winner Mashama Bailey threw out a “go Knicks!” from onstage, whereas the Scotch Lodge of us, of their acceptance speech for Greatest New Bar, declared, “We’ll see you at karaoke afterward. The gauntlet’s been thrown down.”
See the total listing of winners in every class beneath.
2026 James Beard Awards: Restaurant and Chef Winners
Adrian Torres, Maximo, West College Place, TX
Dana Avenue (Fore Avenue, Scales, Commonplace Baking Co., and others), Portland, ME
Michael Tusk, Quince, San Francisco, CA
Excellent Pastry Chef or Baker
Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C.
Windfall, Los Angeles, CA
Excellent Wine and Different Drinks Program
Scotch Lodge, Portland, OR
Excellent Skilled in Beverage Service
Lee Campbell, Borgo, New York, NY
Excellent Skilled in Cocktail Service
Kevin Diedrich, Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, CA
Dave Beran, Seline, Santa Monica, CA
Greatest Chef: Nice Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Jacob Potashnick, Feld, Chicago, IL
Greatest Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA
Greatest Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Loryn Nalic, Balkan Deal with Field, Webster Groves, MO
Greatest Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, CO
Greatest Chef: New York State
Hooni Kim, Meju, Queens, NY
Greatest Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
Evan Hennessey, Levels, Dover, NH
Greatest Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR
Greatest Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Serigne Mbaye, Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, LA
Greatest Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Taylor Montgomery, Montgomery Sky Farm, Leicester, NC
Greatest Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
Sarah Thompson, Casa Playa, Las Vegas, NV
Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, JŪN, Houston, TX
- No Us With out You LA, Damián Diaz and Othon Nolasco
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
- Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen
- Senator Ben Ray Luján
- ReFED
- Southern Smoke Basis
Disclosure: Some Vox Media workers members are a part of the voting physique for the James Beard Awards.
