CHICAGO — Three Chicago chefs are up for James Beard Foundation Awards this year.
The James Beard Foundation on Tuesday announced the nominees for its prestigious awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the culinary world.
Bailey Sullivan, executive chef at Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in the West Loop, is in the running for “Emerging Chef.”
Cariño’s Norman Fenton and Feld’s Jake Potashnick have been nominated for “Best Chef: Great Lakes.”
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Drive, marking its 11th year at the venue. The awards will remain at the Lyric through 2028, the Tribune reported.
Chicago had five James Beard Award nominations in 2025, with upscale bar Kumiko and chef Noah Sandoval of the tasting-menu restaurant Oriole taking home wins.
Here’s more on this year’s Chicago nominees.
Emerging Chef
Sullivan, executive chef at Monteverde, 1020 W. Madison St., is up for “Emerging Chef” against four other U.S. chefs.
While Sullivan’s father owned burger joint and beer garden Goldyburgers for over four decades, Sullivan got her start in the kitchen while studying at Kendall College, according to her website. The La Grange native interned at Acadia, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in the South Loop, before joining the kitchen at Yusho Logan Square — both of which are now closed. At Yusho’s monthly ramen battles, Sullivan notably met Sarah Grueneberg, owner of Monteverde.
Sullivan also worked at the Michelin-starred Parachute for a year after graduation, and she’s now “known for embracing seasonal produce and global flavors with an Italian hand,” according to Chicago Gourmet.
Last year, Sullivan was a finalist on Season 22 of Bravo’s “Top Chef” and got a “rising chef” nomination from The Banchet Awards.
Norman Fenton (left) and Karen Young opened Cariño, a tasting menu restaurant in Uptown, in 2023. Credit: Courtesy Tulum Pluton
Best Chef: Great Lakes
Norman Fenton, executive chef and owner of Cariño, 4662 N. Broadway, is among two Chicago cooks nominated for “Best Chef: Great Lakes.”
Fenton got his start cooking in kitchens as a teen in Detroit before attending the Art Institute of Michigan, according to Cariño’s website. After graduation, he continued to work around southeast Michigan kitchens before moving to Chicago in 2015, where he began working for the Alinea Group’s cocktail lounge The Aviary and the Michelin-starred Schwa.
Fenton also took a nine-month road trip from Chicago to Mexico in 2019 — drawing inspiration from Mexico City, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Monterrey and Tulum — before developing a reputation for innovative, Latin-inspired dishes.
He went on to work as executive chef for Brass Heart in Uptown before it closed. He then turned the space into Cariño, which describes itself as “his love letter to the culture and places he holds dear to his heart.” The restaurant is a 22-seat fine dining establishment that was awarded a Michelin star in 2024, per Chicago Gourmet.
Feld chef and owner Jake Potashnick outside his new restaurant at 2018 W. Chicago Ave. in Ukrainian Village on June 25, 2024. Credit: Quinn Myers/Block Club Chicago
Jake Potashnick, owner and executive chef of Feld, 2018 W. Chicago Ave., is also up for a James Beard Award. A Chicago native, Potashnick loved cooking since he was a kid watching his family cook, according to Chicago Gourmet. After college, he moved to Europe and spent time working in kitchens in Sweden, France and Germany.
After moving back to Chicago, he opened Feld in June 2024 and has since earned a Michelin star. The fine-dining restaurant is described as having a “relationship-to-table philosophy,” which means it highlights the products and the farmers behind them through an ever-changing tasting menu.
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