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The James Beard Awards are back in Chicago, and after a weekend of honoring leaders in the food media and industry, the Restaurant and Chef Awards will take place Monday night.
[ Last year’s coverage: James Beard Awards 2022 return to Chicago, with chef Erick Williams of Virtue taking home sole local win ]
The Chicago Tribune food team will be on site, providing live coverage as leading chefs and restaurateurs from across the country gather at the Lyric Civic Opera Building for the awards ceremony. Follow them on Twitter and check back here for live updates throughout the night.
Chicago enters Monday’s Restaurant and Chef Awards with a victory already secured. Beverage journalist Emma Janzen and Toby Maloney, chief mixologist at The Violet Hour, won a media award for “The Bartender’s Manifesto: How to Think, Drink and Create Cocktails Like a Pro,” in the Beverage Books category with recipes.
[ New book from The Violet Hour’s Toby Maloney shows you how to make bar’s most legendary cocktails ]
It is Janzen’s second Beard Award in as many years, as the author won in 2022 for “The Way of the Cocktail,” which she co-wrote with Julia Momosé, Kumiko’s bartender and creative director.
The James Beard Foundation will livestream the awards, which begin at 5 p.m. You can watch them on YouTube or below:
In January, Smyth’s, Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining and Wazwan were among 11 Chicagoland restaurants named as semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards.
Of those, five became nominees by the end of March:
Diana Dávila of Mi Tocaya Antojeria and Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama compete for the Best Chef: Great Lakes Region category. Also competing for the award are Omar Anani (Saffron De Twah), Detroit’s Andy Hollyday (Selden Standard) and Sarah Welch (Marrow).
[ The best places to eat and drink in Chicago: Tribune guides for everything from pizza to Michelin stars ]
Damarr Brown, Chef de Cuisine for Virtue, is nominated in the Emerging Chef category. This continues a great run for Virtue, as Erick Williams, the chef and owner, picked up the Best Chef: Great Lakes award last year.
In the Best New Restaurant category, Chicago’s Obelix restaurant will go up against nine other restaurants, including Nolia in Cincinnati and Lupi & Iris in Milwaukee.
Sepia restaurant, which opened in 2007 in the West Loop, is among five nominees for Outstanding Hospitality.
More Tribune coverage of the Beard Award finalists:
Big screen or streaming at home, takeout or dine-in, Tribune’s writers are here to guide you to your next great experience. Sign up for their free weekly Eat. Look. Do. Newsletter here.
