Arts & Entertainment
Chicago James Beard Award Finalists on the Value of Challenging Yourself
Three Chicago chefs have been named James Beard Award finalists.
The awards, often likened to the Academy Awards of the food world, recognize chefs, restaurateurs, food writers, critics and journalists in the United States. The awards ceremony will be held in June at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, where it’s been hosted for the last decade.
The local hopefuls are:
- Bailey Sullivan, executive chef of Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio, who’s nominated in the Emerging Chef category
- Norman Fenton, the owner and executive chef of Cariño, who’s nominated for Best Chef: Great Lakes
- Jake Potashnick, owner and executive chef of Feld, who’s nominated for Best Chef: Great Lakes
In an Instagram post, Sullivan wrote: “This recognition means more to me than I could ever put into words. And while this nomination recognizes a single individual, this honor belongs to so many people. It reflects years of hard work, cooking with love, and building a team rooted in kindness. Thank you to the incredible team at Monteverde, who show up for each other every single day. I would not be here without them.”
Potashnick’s Feld, which holds one Michelin star, received another honor at Chicago’s Banchet Awards this year, winning Best New Restaurant and Best Hospitality.
Upon opening Feld in June 2024, Potashnick said he and his team realized they “were onto something special with the restaurant and what we were working on, and we just focused every single day on giving guests the best experience we possibly could and getting better every day and continuing to challenge ourselves regardless of the outside noise, and I think it really quickly paid dividends and showed, and really every review we’ve had since a month after opening has been glowing or positive.”
Stemming from the popular farm-to-table approach, Feld is known as a relationship-to-table space focusing on maintaining relationships and working with local farmers. Patrons are served 30 small seasonal dishes, making it one of the most unique dining experiences.
For Fenton’s Mexican-inspired, Michelin star-clad Cariño, being recognized is a testament to the chef’s sky-high standards.
“I’m a perfectionist that doesn’t believe you can reach perfection,” Fenton said. “A dish is never finished. It’s always evolving. It’s always taking a new form, so it’s never perfect. Never perfect. Always working on it.”
Cariño was inspired by Fenton’s time in Mexico where he met and fell in love with his wife. His work is expanding as he plans to open a new restaurant, Molino Los Hermanos, this summer.
Winners of the 2026 James Beard Awards will be announced June 15.
