The 2026 James Beard Media Award Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 James Beard Media Awards presented by American Express and Resy. The Media Awards took place at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday, June 13 and honored the nation’s top food authors, broadcast producers, hosts, journalists, podcasters, and social media content creators.

Join us in celebrating the winners below!

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
*This year, submissions to Breads were included for consideration within 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
Leslie Soble, Alex Busansky, 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 and 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
(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
Sri Bodanapu, 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)

Book Awards Hall of Fame

Sallie Ann Robinson

2026 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Award Winners

The Broadcast Media Awards are given to nonfiction works in English exemplifying excellence and in keeping with the mission and values of the James Beard Foundation from 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. More information about Broadcast Media Awards eligibility and criteria can be viewed 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
*This year, submissions to the Competition Visual Media category were included for consideration within the Lifestyle Visual Media category.

Duck Camp Dinners, The Texas Tour
Airs on: YouTube, Outdoor America, Tubi, WayPoint TV, and Outdoor Channel

Social Media Account

Michael Ligier
Airs on: YouTube

Travel Visual Media

Tucci in Italy
Airs on: National Geographic

Emerging Voice in Broadcast Media

Nasim Lahbichi
lahbco
Instagram

Broadcast Media Hall of Fame

Pati Jinich

2026 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award Winners

The Journalism Awards recognize works in English and cover food- or drink-related content which were published—or self-published—in 2025 in any medium. More information about Journalism Awards eligibility and criteria can be viewed 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
Condé 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