Tonight, in a star-studded ceremony at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, the James Beard Foundation is announcing the winners of the 2025 James Beard Awards, considered the highest accolade for chefs and restaurateurs in America. Eater is hosting the livestream here, and as the night unfolds, we’ll update this post with winners as they’re announced live and those culinary professionals accept their shiny JBF medals.
This evening’s Restaurant and Chef Awards follow Saturday’s Media Awards hosted by Padma Lakshmi, which celebrated food media working in cookbooks, journalism, and television and audio. For this 35th-annual Restaurant and Chef Awards, Nyesha Harrington and Andrew Zimmern act as the ceremony hosts.
Tonight’s award winners, selected from a finalists list announced on April 2, follow previously announced 2025 Beard Award recipients: journalist and historian Toni Tipton-Martin (who earned the Lifetime Achievement Award), Cafe Momentum founder Chad Houser (who received the Humanitarian of the Year Award), and Impact Award winners U.S.-Representative Angie Craig (the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture), Brandon Edwin Chrostowski (CEO of Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute), Anthony Edwards, Jr., (co-founder of Black-owned restaurants guide EatOkra), Seanicaa Edwards Herron (founder and executive director of the Freedmen Heirs Foundation), and Dune Lankard (president and founder of Native Conservancy).
As the night unfolds, the winners will be updated live here:
2025 James Beard Awards: Restaurant and Chef Award Winners
Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK
JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR
Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
Ignacio Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
Charleston, Baltimore, MD
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service
Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin, TX
Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID
Best Chef: New York State
Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL
Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX
The following wins were previously announced:
2025 James Beard America’s Classics
• Lem’s Bar-B-Q, Chicago
• The Pioneer Saloon, Ketchum, ID
• Sullivan’s Castle Island, Boston
• Lucky Wishbone, Anchorage, AK
• Dooky Chase, New Orleans, LA
• Gaido’s, Galveston, TX
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 2025. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation.
Additional photo illustration credits: Getty Images for the James Beard Foundation
