After years of near-misses in various categories, Chicago’s 25-year-old farm-to-table icon Lula Cafe took home the 2024 James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality — not to mention the only Beard medal staying put this year in the Windy City.
The James Beard Foundation Awards, one of the highest honors for hospitality professionals in the U.S. — known to many as the Oscars of the restaurant industry — returned Monday evening to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The annual black-tie gala is a special opportunity for chefs, bartenders, bakers, and restaurateurs to see and be seen by their peers and make strong sartorial choices to show off their personalities on the red carpet.
Founded in 1999 by chef Jason Hammel, all-day favorite Lula Cafe is a cherished neighborhood institution and welcoming haven for new American cuisine. It’s been a long haul to the Beards stage for Hammel, who was a nominee for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2019, 2020, and 2022. The restaurant has earned legions of fans not only for its food and wine but also for its emphasis on the well-being of its workers and community.
“We truly believe at Lula that hospitality is love and it’s a love with conditions, and we believe the conditions can be just and fair and kind,” Hammel said in his acceptance speech. “I hope that everyone… especially those with power will enact policies that protect and ensure that these conditions can be met and maintained for everyone.”
It was a tough evening for Chicago, which began the night with a formidable clutch of four finalists. In a significant upset, chef Hajime Sato of Sozai in Clawson, Michigan, took home the award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, beating out Chicago nominees Sujan Sarkar of Indian tasting menu spot Indienne and Jenner Tomaska of artsy avant-garde destination Esmé. It’s the first time Chicago has fallen short in the category since 2015, when it was bestowed on chef Johnathon Sawyer, then of the Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland (he has since relocated to — surprise — Chicago, where he helms Kindling inside Willis Tower).
In what proved a prescient moment before the ceremony began, Tomaska endorsed a notion that Chicago’s hospitality community has pondered for several years. The Foundation, he argued, should break out the Windy City into a separate regional category: “There’s a long list of chefs that I really respect that haven’t had a win,” Tomaska says. “I’m humbled to be recognized in this category, but I think Chicago is a staple and we often get [overlooked].”
This year, many embraced the glitz of the occasion, shimmering through the media gauntlet in sequins, glitter, stones, metallics, and other shiny eye-catching designs. Celebrity chef Art Smith walked the carpet in a peacock green silk jacket adorned with a snarling dog made of crystals (the logo of his newish collaborators at professional rugby team the Chicago Hounds); James Beard Award-winning chef Sarah Grueneberg opted for a slightly more subtle sparkle on the bodice of her black dress, paired to great effect with bold red lips and statement earrings reminiscent of angel wings.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also returned for his second Beards gala, following the tradition set by his predecessors Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel. In addition to thanking the Foundation for holding the gala in “the greatest freaking city in the world,” Johnson ribbed ceremony co-host Marcus Samuelsson for multiple shoutouts to New York City earlier in the evening. “Marcus, don’t you mention that other city any more times tonight,” he intoned. The gala will remain in Chicago until at least 2027.
Despite the splashy fanfare, however, the Foundation is still finding its footing after several years of controversy which cast a pall over the affair. The 2024 awards mark its third ceremony following an extensive audit that resulted in new key protocols designed to make the institution more self-aware, transparent, and diverse. Last year, the drama centered around the Foundation’s attempts to investigate nominees accused of being bad actors (as dictated in said audit), a procedure that rapidly proved to be complex, challenging, and mostly conducted away from public scrutiny. Ultimately, one chef was disqualified from winning the category he was nominated in and at least two judges quit over the Foundation’s decision.
A full list of awards is available on Eater.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2024. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation.
Naomi Waxman
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