The James Beard Awards 2024 celebrate the remarkable achievements and contributions of individuals and establishments in the food and beverage industry. By honoring those who set new standards of culinary excellence, the awards play a crucial role in advancing the art of food and dining, shaping the future of the culinary world for years to come.

The Full List of the 2024 James Beard Chef and Restaurant Award Winners

Restaurants and chefs from Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and New Orleans took home top honors.

From https://www.nytimes.com/

Michael Rafidi, who runs the Washington, D.C., restaurant Albi, won the outstanding chef award. Credit…Rey Lopez

By Kim Severson

The James Beard Foundation handed out its coveted culinary awards Monday evening in Chicago, showcasing an eclectic collection of winners from a range of restaurants in cities and towns across America.

Michael Rafidi, of the Arab-influenced Albi in Washington, D.C., was named outstanding chef. He dedicated his award “to Palestine and to all the Palestinian people out there, whether it’s here or in Palestine or all over the world.”

The 24-seat Thai tasting menu restaurant Langbaan in Portland, Ore., won the outstanding restaurant award. The team from Dakar NOLA in New Orleans, which offers a Senegalese tasting menu, received best new restaurant. The award for outstanding restaurateur went to Erika and Kelly Whitaker, who run a restaurant group in the Denver area. Chicago’s own Lula Cafe won for outstanding hospitality.

In recent years, the awards, which were first given out in 1991, have evolved into a glamorous night of red carpet moments and food-focused partying funded largely by a roster of big-name sponsors.

According to the Beard award organizers, the ceremony sold out for the first time in eight years with several nominees opting to bring their entire staffs to the event.

The popularity of this year’s event suggests that the organization may have weathered conflicts both internal and external, which exploded in 2020 when the foundation canceled the awards at the last minute after critics said the slate of nominees was not diverse enough and contained chefs who had been accused of abuse.

In addition to cooking prowess and the quality of the dining experience, the awards now consider a nominee’s treatment of staff, work in the community and commitment to broader issues like equity and climate change.

As a result, the range of nominated chefs and restaurants has expanded beyond America’s coasts, traditional culinary powerhouses and darlings of food media. This year, a wide-ranging list of finalists was more geographically diverse than ever, featuring new names and lesser-known restaurants.

But at least one award was given to a more enduring name in the food world: Ruth Reichl, the author, editor and former restaurant critic for The New York Times who was given a lifetime achievement award.

“It is hard to believe how enormous the changes in the food world have been in my lifetime,” she said in her acceptance speech. “People finally understand that eating is an ethical act and our food choices really, really matter.”

Here are the winners: