On Saturday, June 13, the James Beard Foundation announced the winners of the 2026 James Beard Media Awards during a ceremony at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Media Awards recognize cookbooks, food- or beverage-related books, radio productions, podcasts, documentaries, social media, and more. Sallie Ann Robinson — author of books including Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night — was inducted to the Book Awards Hall of Fame. The Restaurant and Chef Awards will take place in Chicago on Monday, June 15. You can find the full list of finalists here.
2026 James Beard Foundation Book Award Winners
The Book Awards are open to cookbooks and other nonfiction food- or beverage-related books that were published in the U.S. in 2025. Books from foreign publishers must bear a 2025 U.S. copyright date and/or must have been distributed in the U.S. during 2025. More information about the Book Awards eligibility and criteria can be viewed here.
Baking and Desserts
Baking and the Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes
Helen Goh
(Abrams)
Beverage with Recipes
Soju Party: How to Drink (and Eat!) Like a Korean
Irene Yoo
(Alfred A. Knopf)
Beverage without Recipes
Wine Pairing for the People: The Communion of Wine, Food, and Culture from Africa and Beyond
Cha McCoy with Layla Schlack
(Harvest)
Food Issues and Advocacy
Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison
Alex Busansky, Leslie Soble, and Aishatu Yusuf
(The New Press)
General
By Heart: Recipes to Hold Near and Dear
Hailee Catalano
(DK)
International
Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen
Marie Mitchell
(W.W. Norton & Company)
Literary Writing
The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found
Michael Shaikh
(Crown)
Professional and Restaurant
Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen
Melissa King with JJ Goode
(Ten Speed Press)
Reference, History, and Scholarship
Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato
Anny Gaul
(University of California Press)
Single Subject
The Japanese Art of Pickling & Fermenting: Preserving vegetables and family traditions
Yoko Nakazawa with Rochelle Eagle
(Smith Street Books)
U.S. Foodways
Umma: A Korean Mom’s Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes
Sarah Ahn and Nam Soon Ahn
(America’s Test Kitchen)
Vegetable-Focused Cooking
Comida Casera: More Than 100 Vegan Recipes, from Traditional to Modern Mexican Dishes
Dora Ramírez
(Balance)
Visuals
MUMBAI: A Journey Through Its Kitchens, Streets, and Stories
Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal and Bhavya Pansari with Nandini Thirani
(Heirloom Project)
Emerging Voice in Books
Ozoz Sokoh
Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria
(Artisan)
2026 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Award Winners
The Broadcast Media Awards are given to nonfiction works in English that exemplify excellence and uphold the mission and values of the James Beard Foundation. They honor digital and terrestrial media — radio, television broadcasts, podcasts, documentaries, online sites, social media — covering food and beverage topics appearing widely for the first time in the U.S. in 2025. You can find more information about Broadcast Media Awards eligibility and criteria here.
Audio Programming
Heard Podcast: Become a Better Chef
“Lessons Learned”
Airs on: Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple, and Castbox
Audio Reporting
Buzzkill
“A post-pollinator world”
Airs on: REAP/SOW and Food & Environment Reporting Network
Commercial Media
The Theory of Spice
Airs on: LA Times Studios, Documentary+, and YouTube
Documentary Visual Media
Raoul’s, A New York Story
Airs on: Vimeo
Docuseries Visual Media
Chef’s Table: Legends
Airs on: Netflix
Instructional Visual Media
Pati’s Mexican Table
Airs on: PBS
Lifestyle Visual Media
Duck Camp Dinners, The Texas Tour
Airs on: YouTube, Outdoor America, Tubi, WayPoint TV, and Outdoor Channel
Social Media
Michael Ligier
Airs on: YouTube
Travel Visual Media
Tucci in Italy
Airs on: National Geographic
Emerging Voice in Broadcast Media
Nasim Lahbichi
lahbco
Instagram
2026 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award Winners
The Journalism Awards recognize works in English that cover food- or drink-related content which were published — or self-published — in 2025 in any medium. You can find more information about Journalism Awards eligibility and criteria here.
Beverage
“Spiritual Awakening: Ukraine’s black currant brandy tradition was nearly lost to history. Now, one distiller is bringing it back.”
Craig Sauers
Wine Enthusiast
Columns and Newsletters
“The Cruel American Food Aid Crisis”; “A Tufts Student Abducted, Before Iftar”; “Immigrant Restaurant Workers Are Not Criminals”
Ryan Sutton
The Lo Times
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award
“The Great Salt Shake Up”; “The Worst Sandwich Is Back”; “Elon Musk’s Utterly Mundane Vision of Dining”
Ellen Cushing
The Atlantic
Dining and Travel
“Rising Up: Hong Kong Looks Inward to Reinvent Itself”
Francis Lam
Conde Nast Traveler
Feature Reporting
“Caught! A historic, family-run restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi, made its name selling freshly caught seafood. Then the feds showed up with an extraordinary accusation: The fish were a fraud.”
Boyce Upholt
Food & Environment Reporting Network and Inc. Magazine
Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication
Roads & Kingdoms
Foodways
“The hunt for the bean pie street sellers of legend, and how this dessert is a symbol of liberation for many Black Muslims”
Ahmed Ali Akbar
Chicago Tribune
Health and Wellness
“The MAHA Trend in Groceries Will Backfire”; “Brace Yourself for Watery Mayo and Spiky Ice Cream”; “The Cleaner Way to Get Ripped”
Yasmin Tayag
The Atlantic
Home Cooking
“Going Green”
Elizabeth Mervosh
Food & Wine
Investigative Reporting
“California’s Child Farmworkers: Exhausted, Underpaid and Toiling in Toxic Fields”; “Lax Oversight, Few Inspections Leave Child Farmworkers Exposed to Toxic Pesticides”
Robert Lopez
Capital & Main and Los Angeles Times
Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award
“These street vendors used their aguas frescas to fight tear gas at anti-ICE protests”; “Follow the red sauce to Burbank’s best Italian deli”; “After the Eaton fire, Bernee restaurant closed for good. This weekend it’s reborn as Betsy”
Stephanie Breijo
Los Angeles Times
MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
“Schmear Campaign”
Lauren Collins
The New Yorker
Narrative Photography
“The hunt for life-giving ‘country food’ in the Canadian Arctic”
Monica Herndon
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Personal Essay
“Intuitive Eating: On Poison, Pleasure, and Trust”
Erica Berry
Orion Magazine
Personal Essay with Recipes
“The Blueberry Oatmeal That Got Us Through Grief, Then Birth”
Hali Bey Ramdene
Bon Appétit
Profile
“No Papers, Just Peaches”
Sithara Ranasinghe
Cake Zine
Emerging Voice in Journalism
Jasmine Michel
Dreamboat Cafe
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.