The Banchet Awards announce 2027 chef and restaurant finalists in Chicago
The 2027 Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence have announced finalists in 12 categories plus three special recipients, including two pioneering chefs and an iconic deli in Chicago.
The local awards will also celebrate its 25th anniversary with a move to the Harris Theater at Millennium Park in the Loop. The Banchet Awards 2027 winners will be announced on Jan. 31, 2027.
“The Banchets celebrates the restaurants and the people behind them who make Chicago one of the world’s great dining cities,” said Michael Muser, executive director of The Banchet Foundation, in a release.
A secret panel chooses the finalists and winners. The panel varies, this year including food journalists, industry experts and food enthusiasts. They pay for their own dining expenses at restaurants in the city and suburbs. The Banchet Awards provides panelists with a small stipend.
The nonprofit organization’s mission is “to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable food system and foster the next generation in the culinary arts through mentorship, education and job training.”
Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen in the South Loop will receive the Iconic Restaurant Award, “for more than eight decades of family-owned hospitality and its enduring place in Chicago’s dining culture.”
Chef Paul Kahan will receive the Culinary Excellence Award “for his contributions to Chicago’s dining scene and mentorship of generations of hospitality professionals.”
New this year, The Banchets will present its inaugural Environmental Leadership Award to chef Sarah Stegner, co-owner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, as well as founding member and past president of Green City Market in Lincoln Park. Stegner will be recognized “for decades of leadership supporting local farmers and advancing a healthier, more sustainable food system.”
“I am so grateful,” Stegner told the Tribune. “What I want is to have this award established as an acknowledgment for chefs who have taken a stand in leadership around lifting up our agricultural community and connecting people to the food that’s grown on our land.”
It’s different from the Michelin Green Star Award, she added, that was about the restaurants. Michelin awarded the sustainability star to Daisies in Logan Square and Feld in Ukrainian Village. The guide is phasing out the designation by the end of 2026.
Stegner mentions Greg Wade, head baker at Publican Quality Bread, who sources from father and son Marty Travis and Will Travis, seventh- and eighth-generation owners of Spence Farm in downstate Fairbury.
She also mentions César Murillo, the “Top Chef” semifinalist and former executive chef of North Pond, who works with farmer Oriana Kruszewski, best known for her Asian pears, out in the orchards and even helping at her Green City stall.
And Stegner mentions Arshiya Farheen, executive chef and owner of Verzênay bakery, who had a stall at Green City and still sources fruit from Mick Klug Farms in St. Joseph, Michigan, for house-made preserves.
“What I have tried to do with my career is be the conduit that helps people connect to local,” said Stegner.
Setting up Green City Market with founder Abby Mandel, chef Rick Bayless and the late chef Michael Altenberg was a pivotal moment not only in Stegner’s career, she added, but in the idea that they were going to commit to a lifelong project.
“And one of the things that I feel really proud of is that we have a budget of $750,000 in SNAP benefits,” said Stegner.
Meanwhile, at Prairie Grass, she’s working on a seasonal dish with squashes from farmer Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee.
“It incorporates both their pumpkins, which are luxury pie pumpkins, and then we grill them and roast them and put Capriole goat cheese on them and pumpkin seeds,” said Stegner, who’s worked with cheesemaker Judy Schad of Capriole in Greenville, Indiana, for decades. “I think there’s still a lot of people out there that have never eaten a pumpkin savory like that.”
Six miles directly west of Prairie Grass, chef Jean Banchet once made Wheeling a surprising jet-setting culinary destination when his French restaurant Le Francais opened in 1973. The Jean Banchet Awards of Culinary Excellence, as they were originally known, debuted in 2002, with the namesake chef himself presenting medals to winners.
Tickets are on sale now for the 2027 awards ceremony and gala event at $250 for general admission, $500 for VIP and $1,000 for a Founding Patron package that includes admission to a finalist preview party on Nov. 9. For more information, visit thebanchetawards.com.
The event will also stream live at nbcchicago.com.
Here are The Banchets 2027 finalists and special honor recipients
Iconic Restaurant Award
Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen
Culinary Excellence Award
Chef Paul Kahan
Environmental Leadership Award
Chef Sarah Stegner
Chef of the Year
Zachary Engel (Cafe Yaya, Galit)
Adam McFarland and Tom Rogers (John’s Food & Wine)
Zubair Mohajir (Coach House, Lilac Tiger, Mariela, Mirra, Muhājir, Sarima Cafe)
Jenner Tomaska (Esmé, Petite Edith, The Alston)
Rising Chef of the Year
Alex Ching (Bonyeon)
Alex Cochran (Cellar Door Provisions)
Devin Denzer (Atsumeru)
Tayler Ploshehanski (Creepies)
Restaurant of the Year
Brasero
Cellar Door Provisions
Best New Restaurant
All Well
Creepies
Petite Edith
Best Neighborhood Restaurant
Il Mio
Spice by CMB
Torizen
Best Heritage Restaurant
Lao Hu Tong
Mazor
Noodles Party
Pastry Program of the Year
Fat Peach Bakery
Guillotine Bakery
Smyth
Best Counter Service
Chomp Pizza
No Pasa Nada
Turkish Doner
Sommelier of the Year
Nathan Ducker (Feld)
Olivia Duncan-Williams (Maxwells Trading)
Chris Farrell (Indienne)
Claire McDonal (Avec)
Bar of the Year
Bar Bambi
Culebra
Oliver’s
Best Hospitality
Best Design
Adalina Prime
Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club
Tryzub Ukrainian Kitchen