For immediate release
Chicago, IL - April 28, 2017
WTTW/Chicago PBS is teaming up with WNET/New York PBS and American Masters on a special Facebook Live digital video event to provide exclusive coverage of the red carpet arrivals prior to the annual James Beard Awards being held at Chicago’s Civic Opera House.
The event will be streamed on the WTTW Facebook page on Monday, May 1 beginning at 4:45 pm CDT and ending at 6:00 pm.
WTTW correspondent Brandis Friedman (Chicago Tonight) will host the live red carpet event, interviewing nominees and winners (some of whom have Chicago connections and have been featured on WTTW’s popular local restaurant review series Check, Please!, this fall embarking on its 17th season.
On two successive Friday evenings, May 19 and 26 at 9:00 pm CDT, PBS stations around the country will be premiering two new American Masters specials, James Beard: America's First Foodie and Jacques Pépin: American Masters as part of a national “Chefs Flight” initiative, which will also include acclaimed documentaries on Julia Child and Alice Waters.
Chicago area restaurants and chefs nominated for this year’s James Beard Awards include (Check, Please! restaurants linked):
- Fat Rice (Abraham Conlon -- Best Chef: Great Lakes)
- Monteverde (Sarah Grueneberg -- Best Chef: Great Lakes)
- Parachute (Beverly Kim/Johnny Clark -- Best Chef: Great Lakes)
- Boka (Lee Wolen -- Best Chef: Great Lakes)
- Nico Osteria (Erling Wu-Bower -- Best Chef: Great Lakes)
- Topolobampo (Rick Bayless -- Outstanding Restaurant)
- Boka Restaurant Group (Kevin Boehm/Rob Katz -- Outstanding Restaurateur)
- Next (Jenner Tomaska -- Rising Star Chef of the Year)
- Publican Quality Bread (Greg Wade -- Outstanding Baker)
- Momotaro (AvroKO -- Outstanding Design, 76 Seats and Over)
About WTTW
WTTW is a premier public media organization committed to creating and presenting unique television and digital media content across four distinct television channels – WTTW11, WTTW Prime, WTTW Create/WTTW WORLD, and WTTW PBS Kids – and on wttw.com. Recognized for award-winning local and national productions such as Chicago Tonight, Check, Please!, and MEXICO – One Plate at a Time, WTTW presents the very best in public affairs, arts and culture, nature and science, history and documentary, and children’s programming. Visitors to wttw.com can access a full library of local and national video content for kids and adults, immersive web-exclusive stories and features, event and membership opportunities, and more. Connect with WTTW on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
