James Beard Foundation

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / The 2026 James Beard Award Winners Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards presented by American Express and Resy! This year's James Beard Award winners were announced Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 James Beard Media Awards presented by American Express and Resy. The Media Awards took place at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday, June 13 and honored the nation’s top food authors, broadcast producers, hosts, journalists, podcasters, and social media content creators.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / What to Expect at the 2026 James Beard Awards Weekend The 2026 James Beard Awards® presented by American Express and Resy kick off in Chicago this weekend, and we are thrilled to celebrate with our community of chefs, changemakers, and food lovers. Whether you’re joining us in the Chicago or tuning into our livestreams and behind-the-scenes action, here's everything you need to know to enjoy the biggest weekend in food.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / Pastry Chef Paola Velez Says “Put It in the Freezer!” When pastry chef Paola Velez isn’t creating viral desserts like Baked Alaska Shaved Ice at Providencia, a 22-seat bar she co-owns in Washington, D.C., she says she’s “chronically online.” After working with some of the biggest names in pastry and co-founding Bakers Against Racism, a grassroots bake sale and social justice initiative, Velez began to share her gift of gab with a...

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / Amplifying Immigrant Voices If anyone understands the power of food storytelling, it’s chef, author, and activist Grace Ramirez. She started her career in television production, notably as a director and producer of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / Dining with Dignity at JBJ Soul Kitchen “Have you dined with us before?” It's a standard question asked in restaurants, but at JBJ Soul Kitchen (JBJSK), it has deeper implications beyond hospitality or highlighting additions to the seasonal menu. Here, the question is posed by a JBJSK community coordinator, who welcomes and seats guests as well as explains JBJSK’s mission and pay-it-forward model to first-time visitors.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / 5 Key Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Lessons Food entrepreneurship is incredibly rewarding, but it can be challenging to navigate. This is particularly true for women in hospitality, who historically have held fewer ownership or management positions than their male counterparts. And running one’s own business leaves little-to-no time to invest in professional advancement or network development.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / The 2026 James Beard Media Award Nominees Today, we announced the 2026 James Beard Media Award nominees in advance of the 2026 James Beard Awards® presented by American Express and Resy. The list includes nominees in Book, Broadcast Media, and Journalism categories. For the first time, winners will be announced at the renowned Art Institute of Chicago, where the Media Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 13.

The James Beard Foundation has long believed that championing independent restaurants is essential to forging a brighter future of food. Today, we are thrilled to announce a new partnership with American Express and Resy as the official credit card and reservations platform of the James Beard Foundation® and presenting sponsor of the 2026 James Beard Awards®, uniting our mutual commitments to supporting the independent restaurant industry and the people behind it.

Dine and Discover / DiscoverDiscover / StoriesStories / James Beard’s Most Iconic Recipes You are what you eat, so what you cook says a lot about who you are, too. The dishes that James Beard made during his career as a chef, teacher, TV host, and author of 20-plus cookbooks reflect his ethos towards life: make things from scratch, champion what is good and fresh, and keep things classy (but not too classy).