The James Beard Awards, often called the Oscars of the food world, announced its winners on Monday. The award for Best New Restaurant went to Lei, a winebar in New York’s Chinatown. Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco was named Outstanding Chef at the award ceremony, which took place at the historic Lyric Opera in Chicago before an audience of about 2,000 chefs, restaurant owners, and culinary figures.

Winners and Honorees

The Outstanding Restaurateur award was won by Dana Street, who owns Fore Street, Scales, and other restaurants in Portland, Maine, while the southern Thai eatery Kalaya, in Philadelphia, was named the Outstanding Restaurant. Adrian Torres of Maximo in West University Place, Texas, won the Emerging Chef award. Torres, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, took the opportunity to highlight his immigrant roots, saying that for so long “fear was our story.”

Torres, a DACA recipient, expressed his pride in being the son of illegal immigrants. He wasn’t the only person honoring immigrants. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a frequent critic of President Trump and a speaker at the event, pointed to the many immigrants who work in the restaurant industry, and said they and others have been “under siege by the President of the United States.”

James Beard Foundation

The James Beard Foundation, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, puts a premium on discovery and on American cuisine. “We are singularly American … and we celebrate American food culture,” Clare Reichenbach, chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation, said in remarks before the event. The awards are considered both recognition and prediction of future success, with past winners citing a “Beard bump” following the announcements.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.