It was awards night Monday in Chicago. The biggest among them? The last one to be awarded. Outstanding Chef (yes, in America). For 2022, it belongs to The Grey’s Mashama Bailey. Her second Beard Award.
“Mom-and-pop shops have been bubbling underneath the surface of this industry, working hard for a long time establishing our place in American food,” she said in accepting the award.
“I stand on the backs of many of them and today a little black girl or boy can see themselves as a future Outstanding Chef.”
In 2019 Chef Mashama was awarded Best Chef: Southeast. At the time, she’d been nominated every year she was eligible. In 2018 she was also a finalist.
The 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards come after the non-profit took two years away “in order to take time for self-reflection around who and where we are as an organization.”
“The Foundation conducted an audit of the policies and procedures of the Awards. The objectives: to continue the work to remove any systemic bias; increase the diversity of the voting body; ensure that communities far and wide know about the Awards and how eligible candidates may apply; increase transparency in how the Awards function; and align the Awards more outwardly with the Foundation’s mission and values,” is how the Foundation explained their overhaul in the time away.
Media and leadership awards were presented virtually in 2020 and 2021. 2022 signaled the Foundation’s return to ‘regular programming’ with a new structure and outlook on how they will represent and reflect the restaurant industry in America.
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF 2022 WINNERS
This year she brings Savannah its second James Beard Award for Best Chef. Elizabeth Terry was Savannah’s 1st winner for Elizabeth on 37th back in 1996. In 2000, Sema Wilkes received a James Beard Award for “American Regional Classics” celebrating (at the time) her 50 years of work at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House.
The Grey opened in December of 2014. Since then, they have been recipients of several national awards including now a 2nd Beard Award for Mashama Bailey.
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