What I ate and saw at the 2025 James Beard Awards
Eliesa Johnson
The co-owners of Sullivan's Castle Island in South Boston, Brendan Sullivan and his wife Adrienne Sullivan (fourth and fifth from the right), are honored as "America's Classic" winners at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago.
Eliesa Johnson
The annual awards ceremony takes place at the Lyric Opera House. The biggest chefs, commentators, and members of the food media are decked out in floor-length ballgowns and tuxedos. But that's just the beginning. A post-awards celebration immediately follows at Chicago's Union Station, featuring tastings and beverages from chefs around the country. You either walk or take a limousine from the Opera House to the station, which is decorated with sofas and sparkling objects, and filled with a 'who's who' of
Some of the Beard finalists and previous winners prepared small, delicious bites like an agnolotti pasta with English peas, roasted mushrooms, pistachio, and crème fraîche made by chef Matt Vawter of
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Chef and co-owner Serigne Mbaye of Dakar in New Orleans attends the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago.
Clay Williams
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'We were literally slammed with all of the people who wanted a taste,' said Mbaye's business partner and Dakar's managing director Dr. Afua 'Effie' Richardson when I ran into her at the airport the day after the awards. A board-certified pediatric dentist, she sold her practice in order to help fund the opening of Dakar.
The black eyed pea soup at Dakar in New Orleans. A version of this soup was prepared for the 2025 James Beard Awards.
Alexa Gagosz
Alaska chef Beau Schooler served an Alaskan scallop crudo at the 2025 James Beard Awards.
Clay Williams
Anyone who reads this newsletter knows how much I love raw fish, so one of my favorite bites was prepared by chef Jeffrey Steelman of Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi Bar in Chicago, who made
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Chef Varanya Geyoosawat of Kann in Portland, Oregon – a restaurant by the celebrated Haitian-American chef Gregory Gourdet, who is another James Beard award winner – served a delicious Caribbean shrimp curry with jasmine rice at the 2025 James Beard Awards.
Alexa Gagosz
Chef Varanya Geyoosawat of
Big brands were certainly in attendance this year: Wine and tequila producers were providing tastings and bubbles never stopped flowing into flutes, while bartenders were shaking up cocktails using tried and true spirits. Keven Vetter of McCormick for Chefs served tropical esquites with aji amarillo – he also gave out small bottles of the spice bottle for people to bring home.
A bar at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. (Eliesa Johnson)
Eliesa Johnson
While the awards ceremony recognizes the hard work that America's restaurant workers, chefs, bartenders, sommeliers, and others put in every day, the after party is where people get to let loose. The pressures of business and hierarchies within the industry vanish as the food elite mingles with writers, chefs, and fans. Daniel Boulud, the legendary French chef and restaurateur, hung out and took a photo with a crew from Providence, made up of chefs and owners from Oberlin,
A cut of salmon served at the afterparty of the 2025 James Beard Awards.
Clay Williams
Celebrity chefs, like Marcus Samuelsson (of
And then there were the after-after parties. Along with Providence chef Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway (a finalist for Best Chef: Northeast this year) and his crew, we headed to
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Marcus Samuelsson and Daniel Boulud attend the 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards on June 16, 2025 in Chicago.for James Beard Foundation
Moore, who is from the South Side of Chicago, was also named a semifinalist this year for the first time.
'As a Black chef for 25 years, when I look at restaurants and I look at us… many chefs in this room, and a lot of people who won today, it was such an experience for me to see that and for [them] to be here, in my house,' said Moore.
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