—Congrats!: Another James Beard Awards weekend has come and gone. (Chicago is hosting the so-called “Oscars of food” through at least 2027.)
Chicago has a sparkling reputation in the culinary world; however, Lula Cafe was the city’s only James Beard Restaurant and Chef award winner this year, for Outstanding Hospitality. In part, owner Jason Hammel said, “Hospitality is a team award because the hard work of emotional labor is not about how we treat guests, but it’s about how we treat each other.”
At the awards ceremony (held June 10), Michael Rafidi (who’s behind the D.C. restaurant Albi) was named Outstanding Chef, Restaurant Business noted. Some of the other winners included New Orleans’ Jewel of the South (Outstanding Bar) and Dakar NOLA (Best New Restaurant); Portland, Maine’s ZU Bakery (Outstanding Bakery); and Portland, Oregon’s Langbaan (Outstanding Restaurant); and Minneapolis chef Christina Nguyen, of Hai Hai (Best Chef: Midwest). It was a good year for the Portlands, apparently. The full list of winners is here.
A pre-awards event took place at Kindling, the live-fire concept in the Willis Tower from former James Beard Award Winner Chef Jonathon Sawyer (who previously helmed Adorn). Sawyer honored distinguished past winners while celebrating present nominees by joining chefs Gerard Craft and Kelsey Bernard Clark to offer bites throughout the event. Attendees included Illinois Restaurant Association Chair Sam Toia; Chef Rick Bayless; and Best Chef Great Lakes finalists Chef Jenner Tomaska, of Esme, Chef Sujan Sarkar of Indienne, and 2024 James Beard Award Winner Nguyen. Offerings included wood-fired oysters, lollipop lamb chops, smoked salmon belly with dill crema and much more
And on a personal note, I was fortunate enough to attend “Bacon, Brunch & Bubbles 2024” on June 9 at Cindy’s Rooftop/Chicago Athletic Association. This particular event—which had 300 attendees—celebrated this year’s James Beard Foundation media nominees and culinary leaders.
—Beer and far: Home Run Inn—the official pizza of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field—has partnered with the club once again on their Beer Pizza.
The wheat ale-flavored, non-alcoholic item will be available in Home Run Inn’s eight-inch sausage pizza at select concession stands throughout Wrigley Field for the remainder of the regular season. The “pizza also will be available in all varieties at Home Run Inn restaurants for a limited time only.
—Raw like sushi: Did you know International Sushi Day is June 18? Sunda New Asian Chicago River North (110 W. Illinois St.) and Sunda Fulton Market (333 N. Green St.) will mark the occasion with a variety of offerings, including Garden Roll (local greens, Thai basil, mango, avocado, asparagus, cucumber, nori and ponzu sauce), Midori (hamachi, wasabi tobiko, avocado, cilantro, jalapeño, cucumber and lime), lobster wagyu (lobster, scallions, jalapeño, wagyu tataki, truffle foie and wasabi aioli), rainbow (crab, tuna, salmon, escolar, yellowtail, avocado, asparagus and sesame), the Gambler roll (spicy tuna, kani, cucumbers, scallions, kampyo, avocado and ghost pepper sambal) and others.
—I’ll drink to that: Also, National Martini Day is June 19. Several places are celebrating with specials and one-of-a-kind creations.
The Smith will hold a martini hour; also available on Mondays through Fridays at 3-6 p.m., diners can enjoy discounted speciality martinis and bites, with the Espresso Martini, The Dirty Martini, Midtown Manhattan No. 3, Lychee Gimlet, Basil Lemon Drop and more for just $12 each. Bloom Plant Based Kitchen will offer a Dirty Matcha Martini while LG’s Bar & Kitchen will have The Pornstar Martini, which is typically served with a Champagne shooter or splash of Champagne. Also, Adorn Bar—on the seventh floor of Four Seasons Hotel Chicago—actually has a martini cart with drink choices such as The Billionaire’s Last Word, made with the rare Chartreuse VEP Green, Aviation gin, Luxardo maraschino and a caviar-stuffed cherry. And Proxi has The Vietnamese Espresso Martini, made with vodka, coconut, Rhine Hall Coffee Liqueur and sweetened condensed coconut milk.
Also, Union will have a Dirty Pickle Martini, The Dawson will have a French-ish Martini (vodka, pineapple, raspberry, cognac, Lillet Rose and raspberry-vanilla sugar) while the Lake Zurich spot LAGO by Fabio Viviani will have an entire section of its dessert menu dedicated to the espresso martini.
—“Kid” power: Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry—a celebratory culinary event series for a cause—will return to Chicago on Thursday, June 27, 6-9 p.m., at Rockwell on the River, 3057 N. Rockwell St.
One in five kids in this country is living with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to make sure every child gets three meals a day by advocating for these programs and helping communities get the resources they need to feed children.
More than 50 of Chicago’s top eateries, chefs and mixologists in the event that chefs/owners Diana Davila (Mi Tocaya Antojería) and Joe Flamm (Rose Mary; BLVD Steakhouse—and formerly of Spiaggia) are co-chairing. Just a few of the participating restaurants include Lardon, Girl & the Goat, Thattu, Luella’s Southern Kitchen, Indienne, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, Bocadillo Market and Atelier Chicago.
All-access passes are sold out; however, general-admission tickets remain. Visit https://events.nokidhungry.org/events/chicagos-taste-nation/ to learn more.
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