A West Loop bar and chef were named winners at the 35th James Beard Awards at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House on Monday night.
Often referred to as the “Oscars of the food industry,” the awards recognize the best of the culinary arts, food and beverage and hospitality industries. They take place every June in Chicago.
Kumiko took home the award for Outstanding Bar and Noah Sandoval of Oriole snagged the top prize for Best Chef: Great Lakes.
Julia Momosé is the mastermind behind Japanese-inspired Kumiko, famous for its seasonal tasting menus and drink pairing options.
Following her win, Momosé told WBBM backstage that she was “fully prepared” to celebrate another bar winning, so hearing her bar called as the winner was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
“It means so much,” she said. “Ever since COVID, it's been this feeling of, ‘Are we going to make it?’… the James Beard Awards have been something that I've always looked to as this great achievement, as a sign of something that is long lasting, not just a flash in the pan, and that means the world to me.”
In Momosé’s acceptance speech, she spoke about the important role immigrants play in the hospitality industry.
She said she was horrified by the recent ICE deportations in Chicago and other cities across the country, and as a Japanese immigrant herself, felt it was her duty to mention immigrants in her speech.
“My grandfather, being Japanese, we went through something similar, but different, back during the war,” she said. “Knowing that history keeps repeating itself again and again, the more often we have platforms to stand up and talk about it as directly or as quietly as we can … the more potential there is for change.”
She also praised her fellow nominees and said she’s especially honored to be representing Chicago, the first “big city” she lived in after moving to the United States from Japan to go to college.
Momosé said Chicago is a city she has the “utmost respect for.”
“I remember coming here 12 years ago, very young and starry eyed,” she said. “I felt intimidated and in awe of everyone, so for Kumiko to now be a bar that people will recognize and come to means a lot.”
Also representing Chicago was chef Noah Sandoval of Oriole in the West Loop, who won the Best Chef: Great Lakes category.
Sandoval wasn’t able to attend the awards, but a friend accepted on his behalf with a short speech that ended with “F–k ICE,” which garnered applause and cheers from the audience.
The Best Chef: Great Lakes category was stacked with Chicago nominees. Along with Sandoval, nominees included Thai Dang of HaiSous in Pilsen and Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower of Maxwells Trading in the West Loop.
On the red carpet, a very excited and grateful Dang told reporters it was an “incredible freaking feeling” to receive a nomination.
“We’ve been semifinalists for a few years, so to finally make it and be here on this red carpet among great people that have been doing this for years is such an incredible honor,” he said.
He also shouted out fellow Chicago chefs and the entire Chicago food scene.
“Chicago is awesome. We support each other. We’re there for each other,” he said. “When we all rise together, it’s just an amazing feeling. I don't care to win or lose. I feel like a million bucks. I feel like I’ve won.”
Chicago had five nominees in total. Lincoln Park’s Galit was also nominated for Outstanding Restaurant.
Local politicians attended and spoke at the ceremony, including Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
On the red carpet before the ceremony, Johnson spoke briefly with reporters where he said keeping the James Beard Awards in Chicago remains a priority. It’s slated to stay in Chicago through 2027.
“There’s no better place to host this type of event than here in Chicago,” he said. “The diversity of our city, our food is second to none, and clearly this is the best representation of, I believe, America and, quite frankly, the world.”
Several high-profile Chicago chefs presented at the awards, including former James Beard Winners Stephanize Izard and Rick Bayless, who walked the red carpet before the ceremony with his wife Deann.
Bayless praised Chicago’s “Midwest hospitality” and said he was excited to meet some of the newer, younger chefs at the awards who are “forging new territory.”
“We have a place that’s almost 40 years old. We’re not going to steer that ship in a drastically different direction, but that’s good,” he said. “We can be the old guys on the block, but all of these young chefs are doing really fantastic things. And they are redefining what the word ‘authentic’ means.”
He said he is constantly learning from the younger chefs. His advice to them: “stay with it.”
“Right now, all of these young chefs are being pulled in so many different directions,” he said. “It’s about going to work and making really good food.”
Also on the red carpet was Laura Gardner, the business and marketing genius behind Local Style Chips.
She was wearing a jumpsuit/dress made entirely out of bags of her potato chips that taste like famous Chicago flavors, including hot dog, deep dish pizza and Italian beef.
All awards attendees received a bag of her Chicago-flavored chips to enjoy during the ceremony, something Gardner said was “surreal.”
“I will probably be in tears tonight when I walk in and see them being handed out,” she said.
Local Style Chips was inspired by Gardner’s love for Chicago and its vibrant food scene, so Gardner said being able to represent Chicago at the food industry's biggest night was a dream come true.
“I love this city. It means so much to me,” she said. “I love the food scene. I never thought I would be part of it in this way, and it’s a true honor.”
At this year’s awards, Chicago’s Lem’s Bar-B-Q received a special nod in the event’s official American Classics video. The South Side staple was named a James Beard America’s Classics awardee earlier this year.
You can find a full list of James Beard Award winners here.