The 35th outing for the James Beard Media Awards took place in Chicago on Saturday (June 14). The annual celebration is meant to honor “excellence in books, broadcast media, and journalism covering food or drink-related content”, according to the official website. The event was hosted by the Illinois Restaurant Association and Choose Chicago.
Here is the full list of winners in each category for 2025:
BOOK AWARD WINNERS
Baking and Desserts
Sift: The Elements of Great Baking
Nicola Lamb
(Clarkson Potter)
Beverage with Recipes
The Bartender’s Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar
Emma Janzen, Jim Meehan, and Bart Sasso
(Ten Speed Press)
Beverage without Recipes
Sake: The Art and Craft of Japan’s National Drink
Yoshiko Ueno-Müller
(Prestel)
Bread
Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking
Richard Hart, Henrietta Lovell, and Laurie Woolever
(Clarkson Potter)
Food Issues and Advocacy
Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch
Andrea Freeman
(Metropolitan Books)
General
Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes: A Cookbook
Carolina Gelen
(Clarkson Potter)
International
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International
{{/usCountry}}The Balkan Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans
Irina Janakievska
(Quadrille)
Literary Writing
Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves
Nicola Twilley
(Penguin Press)
Professional and Restaurant
Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country
Rogelio Garcia and Andréa Lawson Gray
(Abrams)
Reference, History, and Scholarship
McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches
Gary He
(Self-published)
Single Subject
Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking (More than 60 Recipes Featuring Gochujang, Doenjang, and Ganjang)
Nadia Cho, Mingoo Kang, and Joshua David Stein
(Artisan)
U.S. Foodways
Our South: Black Food Through My Lens
Ashleigh Shanti
(Union Square & Co.)
Vegetable-Focused Cooking
Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques
Joe Yonan
(Ten Speed Press)
Visuals
McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches
Gary He
(Self-published)
Emerging Voice
Paola Velez
Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store
(Union Square & Co.)
Cookbook Hall of Fame
Rose Levy Beranbaum
BROADCAST AWARD WINNERS
Audio Programming
Loading Dock Talks with Chef Preeti Mistry
“Cream Pie with Telly Justice”
Airs on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms
Audio Reporting
Post Reports
“Bacon: The Best-Kept Secret in Washington”
Airs on: Post Reports
Commercial Media
La Mera Mera Tamalera
Airs on: YouTube
Documentary Visual Media
MARCELLA
Airs on: PBS American Masters
Docuseries Visual Media
World Eats Bread
Airs on: National Geographic Channel
Instructional Visual Media
G.O.A.T.
Airs on: MasterClass
Lifestyle Visual Media
Relish
Airs on: PBS, Passport, TPT, TPT-2 and YouTube
Social Media Account
Little Fat Boy
Airs on: Instagram, TikTok, Substack and YouTube
Travel Visual Media
Drink: A Look Inside the Glass
Airs on: Apple TV, Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku
Emerging Voice
Mohammed Shaqura
Hamada Shoo
Airs on: Instagram and TikTok
Broadcast Media Hall of Fame
Martha Stewart
JOURNALISM AWARD WINNERS
Beverage
“Want to Make Spirits in Thailand? Good Luck.”
Craig Sauers
Punch
Columns and Newsletters
“The farm bill hall of shame”; “The essential workers missing from the farm bill”; “Tribal nations want more control over their food supply”
Teresa Cotsirilos, Bridget Huber, and Claire Kelloway
Food & Environment Reporting Network and Mother Jones
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award
“New tasting menu dinners at Honeysuckle Provisions are provocative and delicious”; “The enduring, confusing, and always delicious Octopus Cart is still puffing along after 34 years”; “Loch Bar, a new high-end seafood spot on Broad, swings big and misses”
Craig LaBan
Philadelphia Inquirer
Dining and Travel
“Gastro Obscura’s Feast”
Anne Ewbank, Diana Hubbell, and Sam O’Brien
Gastro Obscura
Feature Reporting
“We Need to Talk About Trader Joe’s”
Adam Reiner
TASTE
Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication
The Bitter Southerner
Foodways
“As Detroit sees a future in urban agriculture, some pushback harkens to a dark past”
Lyndsay C. Green
Detroit Free Press
Health and Wellness
“Florida Banned Farmworker Heat Protections. A Groundbreaking Partnership Offers a Solution.”
Grey Moran
Civil Eats
Home Cooking
“The Art and Science of Kimchi”
Andrea Geary
Cook’s Illustrated
Investigative Reporting
“The North Koreans behind global seafood”; “The Whistleblower”
Ian Urbina and the Staff of The Outlaw Ocean Project
The Outlaw Ocean Project and The New Yorker
Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award
“Etta’s Five Bankruptcies Have Left a Collective Mess”; “White Sox Fans Came for the Losses, Stayed for the Milkshakes”; “Namasteak, USA”
Ashok Selvam
Eater Chicago
MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
“The City that Rice Built”
Jeff Gordinier and George McCalman
Food & Wine
Narrative Photography
“The Only Constant is Chuck’s”
Rory Doyle
Self-published
Personal Essay
"My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza”
Mosab Abu Toha
The New Yorker
Personal Essay with Recipes
“A Cuisine Under Siege”
Laila El-Haddad
SAVEUR
Profile
“Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar”
Helen Rosner
The New Yorker
Emerging Voice
MacKenzie Chung Fegan
Restaurant Critic
San Francisco Chronicle
By Stuti Gupta