GA Chef Wins 2022 James Beard Award

GEORGIA — A chef in Savannah picked up a prestigious culinary honor as a winner in the James Beard Foundation’s 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards, presented Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Winners in Georgia are:

• Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, GA

"Today, a little Black boy or a little Black girl can see themselves as a future outstanding chef," Bailey said at the 2022 awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Savannah Now reported. "They can see themselves in a space that they have never seen before and do what they can not think is possible. And until just a few minutes ago, that was me."

The awards are regarded as the Oscars of the culinary industry.

The industry remains in a recovery phase after lost business during the pandemic and “still needs support,” James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach said at the ceremony, according to a news release.

The awards honor not only individual winners but also “our entire industry — and the incredible resilience, fortitude, talent, and leadership so many have shown over the past two years,” Reichenbach said.

The awards had been on a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. During that time, the awards program “underwent a full audit of its policies and procedures, continuing the work to remove bias, increase transparency and accessibility, and make the program more aligned with the Foundation’s mission and values.”