Scenes From the 2024 James Beard Awards Red Carpet, Dinner, and After-Party in Chicago

The party featured jewel-clad pups, long lines for fried chicken, and plenty of tears.

Since returning in 2022, the James Beard Awards have made progress on their goals of diversifying the most prestigious restaurant awards in the country. That work was on full display during last night’s Restaurant and Chef Awards at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, from the styles on the red carpet to the acceptance speeches, to the food served at the bustling after-party at Union Station.

The 2024 Gala exceeded attendance expectations for the first time in two years, selling out in record time as some chefs opted to bring their entire teams to the ceremony. Unseasonably cool weather left some women shivering in their ball gowns, though temperatures were much warmer inside the theater.

Two-time James Beard winner Art Smith made an early splash by walking down the red carpet with several members of the Chicago Hounds rugby team, which he co-owns, along with two actual dogs. Gia and Pepe enjoyed all the attention, freely offering face licks and paws. George Patrick designed the player jerseys, Smith’s matching teal silk jacket — which featured a jeweled version of the team’s mascot on the back and the rooster logo for Smith’s Sporty Bird food project on the breast — and the pups’ bejeweled leashes and collars.

The first two winners of the night, Emerging Chef Masako Morishita of Perry’s in Washington, D.C. and Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker Atsuko Fujimoto of Norimoto Bakery in Portland, Maine, both sported kimonos. Morishita said she cried when she learned she’d been nominated and she cried again when accepting the award, pointing out her husband, who was also crying in the audience.

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific winner and presenter Gregory Gourdet of Kann in Portland, Oregon, dazzled with feathered epaulets in several shades of blue and green, a matching cravat, and a bright red waistcoat — a look modeled after Haiti’s national bird the Hispaniolan trogon. Gourdet, whose Haitian fine dining establishment won Best New Restaurant last year, struck a more somber note in his acceptance speech, talking about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction and seemingly indirectly referencing the war in Gaza. “As we celebrate tonight in abundance and in excess and in privilege, I want us to remember that access to food is a basic human right and it should never be used as a tool of war against innocent people.”

Outstanding Chef winner Michael Rafidi of Albi in Washington, D.C. wore a keffiyeh and charcoal suit. “All I can think of is my Palestinian grandparents,” he said when accepting the honor. “This award is dedicated to Palestine and to all the Palestinian people out there.”

Gourdet and Top Chef Masters contestant Lorena Garcia were among the chefs calling out the celebration of Pride Month in June. Mental health was another sub-theme, with Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic winner Harley Peet of Bas Rouge in Easton, Maryland, tearing up as he encouraged the audience to reach out if they think someone is having a hard time. He dedicated the award to Maryland chef David Kuzio, who died in a car accident in February.

Despite a few serious notes, the event’s hosts kept things light. Top Chef contestants Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais led the audience in a stretching session at the halfway mark to get them out of the theater’s notoriously uncomfortable seats. They also revealed that a black truffle had been hidden under someone’s chair as a bonus prize.

After the ceremony, buses transported the crowd a few blocks to the after-party at Union Station, where chefs from around the country were serving up a huge variety of bites to a hungry crowd of revelers. Dishes included crying tiger beef from Los Angeles’ Jitlada, kaluga caviar served atop duck fat potato chips doled out by sponsor the Waldorf Astoria, and ancho chile pork from Baltimore’s Ekiben. Sponsor Heinz had a hot dog cart, though in deference to Chicago preferences they topped the sausages with Grey Poupon and left their signature ketchup on the side with the crinkle-cut fries.

Frontera Grill owner Rick Bayless waited in line for a taco from Rafael Rios of Yeyo’s El Alma de Mexico in Bentonville, Arkansas, before he ran out of food. Charles Gabriel attracted the biggest lines, cooking up his signature dish from Charles Pan-Fried Chicken on the spot and serving it atop cornbread with a drizzle of honey. It was a challenge to stack all the plates involved in his soul food feast of collard greens, yams, cups of banana pudding, and strawberry cheesecake.

The riot of styles was on full display, with cowboy hats, barongs, and gowns bedecked with sequins and ruffles. Capital One provided a shoe check so attendees could trade their dress shoes for flip flops to dance and wander with a gin and tonic or glass of Champagne. There were neat pours of sotol and aged rum, plus several non-alcoholic cocktail options. With few seats available, some people plopped down on the station’s stairs.

Those with more stamina followed the Union Station festivities by heading to an after-after party at Frontier. Revelers hung out around the fireplaces and loaded up on a buffet showcasing Brian Jupiter’s whole-animal service with a pig head displayed alongside piles of pork, ribs, and trays of salads and mac and cheese.

Watch the 2024 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony here:

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 2024. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation.