For the first time since 2019, the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony is back in Chicago. Weeks after the James Beard Foundation announced the year’s slate of chef and restaurant finalists, the results are in, and chefs, restaurateurs, and other hospitality-world insiders have gathered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the splashy, red carpet event, with chef Kwame Onwuachi as host. (There was even a classic behind-the-scenes cold open, and Onwuachi delivered an opening monologue, complete with a joke about the Oscars slap.)

Following the pandemic-induced hiatus and a 2020 controversy that raised questions about the integrity of the awards, the James Beard Foundation has made a number of changes, conducting an audit and subsequently diversifying the committees involved with the judging process. This year, the awards categories are also different than in pre-pandemic years, with an eye towards greater inclusivity.

The Rising Star Chef of the Year award is now called Emerging Chef. Edgar Rico, chef and co-owner of Austin’s Nixta Taqueria, took home that award, which no longer has any age restrictions. Chef Katie Button’s Asheville restaurant Cúrate won for Outstanding Hospitality, the award that’s taken the place of Outstanding Service and now recognizes a restaurant that makes “efforts to provide a sustainable work culture,” along with public-facing service. Plus, there’s no Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional award this year.

The regional categories were also shuffled in order to recognize more chefs: California, New York, and Texas now each comprise their own regional Best Chef categories, leaving room for a wider geographical spread of nominees in the West, Northeast, and Southwest categories. The award for California kicked off the regional categories, with Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco winning the first Best Chef award of the night. Later, Austin saw another win as Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo accepted the Best Chef award for Texas. Chintan Pandya won Best Chef: New York State (a category dominated entirely by nominees from New York City) for Dhamaka.

The foundation’s efforts to highlight diversity have seemingly paid off in the major award categories too. Chai Pani, an Indian street food restaurant in Asheville, won Outstanding Restaurant; Owamni, a Native American restaurant in Minneapolis led by chef Sean Sherman, won Best New Restaurant; and Outstanding Chef went to Mashama Bailey of the Grey in Savannah, Georgia, who said to the crowd, “Thank you for supporting me, and thank you for betting on Black.”

Straight ahead, see the full list of winners.

2022 James Beard Award Chef and Restaurant Winners

Outstanding Chef

Mashama Bailey, the Grey, Savannah, Georgia

Outstanding Restaurant

Chai Pani, Asheville, North Carolina

Outstanding Restaurateur

Chris Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco, and Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix

Outstanding Hospitality

Cúrate, Asheville, North Carolina

Best New Restaurant

Owamni, Minneapolis

Emerging Chef

Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria, Austin, Texas

Outstanding Baker

Don Guerra, Barrio Bread, Tucson, Arizona

Outstanding Pastry Chef

Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Pâtisserie, Detroit

Outstanding Wine Program

The Four Horsemen, New York

Outstanding Bar Program

Julep, Houston

Best Chef: California

Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)

Fernando Olea, Sazón, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)

Dane Baldwin, the Diplomat, Milwaukee

Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)

Caroline Glover, Annette, Aurora, Colorado

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)

Robynne Maii, Fête, Honolulu

Best Chef: Texas

Iliana de la Vega, El Naranjo, Austin, Texas

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)

Cristina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa, Philadelphia

Best Chef: New York State

Chintan Pandya, Dhamaka, New York

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)

Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, Birmingham, Alabama

Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)

Ricky Moore, Saltbox Seafood Joint, Durham, North Carolina

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

Nisachon Morgan, Saap, Randolph, Vermont

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)

Erick Williams, Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Chicago

The following wins were previously announced:

America’s Classics

• Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks, California
• Corinne’s Place, Camden, New Jersey
• Solly’s Grille, Milwaukee
• Wo Hop, New York
• The Busy Bee Cafe, Atlanta
• Florence’s Restaurant, Oklahoma City

2022 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award

Martin Yan

2022 James Beard Humanitarian of the Year

Grace Young

2022 Leadership Awards

• Monica Ramirez of Justice for Migrant Women
• Irene Li of Mei Mei Dumplings and Prepshift
• Erika Allen of Urban Growers Collective
• Mavis-Jay Sanders of Drive Change

The Media Awards took place on June 11 — read the full winners list here.

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.