Chicago Won Two National James Beard Awards At The 'Oscars Of Food'
By Anthony Todd in Food on May 3, 2016 2:21PM
Last night, Chicago played host to the James Beard Awards, the Oscars of the food world. While Chicago chefs didn't do all that well at the actual awards, the event as a whole showcased some of the best that the city, as well as the entire culinary world, had to offer.
The star-studded, black-tie gala featured food celebrities, chefs and restaurant owners. Chicago was up for a solid list of awards, but we only won two of the national awards. Cherry Circle Room won for best design in a restaurant with more than 75 seats, and (the big one) Alinea won for Outstanding Restaurant.
Of course we won in the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes (the category that should be Best Chef: Chicago), since only Chicago chefs were nominated. The actual award went to Curtis Duffy of Grace.
This was the first year I attended the awards in person, and while the glitz and glamour was definitely something to see, my favorite part was the awards that went to older restaurants and established restauranteurs. Watching food luminaries talk about the barbecue restaurant that inspired them or the burger joint where everyone knows each other reminded me what this business was all about: feeding people and making people happy, not wining awards for best new restaurant.
The single most awesome part of the night? The appearance of Leah Chase, the 93-year old Owner of Dooky Chase's restaurant in New Orleans. You can get a taste of her awesomeness in the video below, but her in-person speech was something I'll never forget. She declared in a strong voice that "I'm 93 years old and that's not that old," told the audience that cooking and her customers would give her the strength to keep going for another "ten, 12 years" and reminded everyone about the importance of the culinary arts: "I don't care if you're the pope or the president, you have to eat!"
She also tweaked President Barack Obama a bit, who apparently put hot sauce in his gumbo when he came to visit. "Mr. Obama, what do you know about gumbo? You're from Chicago. Nothing!"
Check out the video featuring her below, and congratulations to all of the winners!