This Chicago restaurant just won a James Beard award

Chicago's dining scene added another trophy to the shelf Monday night when Feld chef-owner Jake Potashnick took home the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, one of the restaurant industry's highest honors.

The award was announced last night during the 2026 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where chefs, restaurateurs and food-world luminaries gathered for what is often called the Oscars of food. Potashnick prevailed in the Great Lakes category, which recognizes culinary excellence across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

For anyone who has managed to snag a reservation at Feld, the win won't come as much of a surprise.

Since opening in West Town in 2024, the restaurant has become one of Chicago's most talked-about dining experiences—and one of its most polarizing. Feld doesn't rely on caviar towers, celebrity sightings or over-the-top theatrics. Instead, Potashnick has built his reputation around what he calls a "relationship-to-table" philosophy, creating seasonal menus based on his close collaborations with local farmers, ranchers and producers.

At Feld, diners surround the kitchen on all sides, watching cooks and servers serve more than two dozen courses. Along the way, nearly everyone involved in the meal stops by to introduce a dish, explain an ingredient or share the story behind what appears on the plate.

The format has evolved since Feld's early days, though. What was once a marathon of tiny courses has matured into a more refined production that still feels playful and surprising. Recent menus have featured everything from pickled strawberries and lardo crumpets to just-harvested spinach served in dashi and scallops grilled on one side while remaining nearly raw on the other.

Last year, Bon Appétit named Feld one of the country's best new restaurants, praising its deeply personal approach to storytelling through food. Critics have called it divisive, especially among diners skeptical of lengthy tasting menus—but even detractors agree there's nothing quite like it in Chicago.