Chicago's 2026 James Beard Award Nominees

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The James Beard Awards, a national recognition in the food and hospitality industry often compared to the Academy Awards, have announced 2026 nominees. Chicago has three nominees narrowed down from 23 semifinalists this year, the fewest nominees from the city in years. In the Best Chef: Great Lakes category, often dominated by Chicago, Ohio looms large, with three out of five nominees from that state and Cincinnati's two nominees equaling Chicago's two.

Chicago was represented by two winners last year out of five nominees, while the South Side institution Lem's Bar-B-Q was named an "America's Classic."

The awards ceremony to reveal the winners will once again take place in Chicago at the Lyric Opera, on June 15. The ceremony will continue to take place in Chicago through at least 2028, an extension of a deal that was to expire in 2027. The extension was revealed at the announcement of the nominees in Chicago.

Find Chicago's 2026 nominees below. 

Emerging Chef

Bailey Sullivan, Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio – Sullivan was a finalist this year in Top Chef. Sarah Grueneberg, her boss at Monteverde, the ever-popular Italian restaurant in the West Loop, already has her own James Beard Award.

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)

Norman Fenton, Cariño – This small Michelin-starred tasting menu spot in Uptown offers flavors and dishes inspired by Fenton’s time in Mexico,  including a late-night taco tasting menu. Like his fellow nominee Jacob Potashnick, Fenton appeared in the show Knife's Edge, about trying to achieve Michelin stars.

Jacob Potashnick, Feld – Potashnick generated buzz for his intensely seasonal “relationship-to-table” tasting menu spot on social media, then quickly revamped as his stark courses faced critique online, a story told in the show Knife Edge. Now Feld has found its place with a Michelin star, a Best New Restaurant and Best Hospitality win at Chicago’s Banchet Awards this year, and a spot on Bon Appétit’s national best new restaurant list.