Jean Banchet Awards Finalists Revealed: A Look at Chicago's Contenders for Culinary Excellence The 2025 Jean Banchet Awards nominees spotlight Chicago's diverse dining scene, from upscale tasting menus to neighborhood pizza joints. The ceremony will celebrate the city's top chefs and restaurants at a special 25th-anniversary event in January. Cellar Door Provisions is once again up for Restaurant of the Year, while its Alex Cochran (left) is again up for Rising Chef of the Year. Credit: Sandy Noto for WTTW, Chicago's respected local food awards, have been announced. Named after the legendary chef Jean Banchet of suburban Chicago's Le Français, the Banchets honor Chicago's hospitality talent, spotlighting people and places that might be missed by national attention such as the James Beard Awards - and sometimes anticipating them.Banchet Awards Move To Harris TheaterThis is especially evident in categories like Best Counter Service and Best Heritage Restaurant, where you'll find places outside neighborhoods known for their restaurants (including the suburbs; Schaumburg alone has two nominated restaurants this year). This is the 25th year of the Banchets, and they are celebrating the milestone by moving the January 31 awards ceremony from Venue SIX10 to the larger Harris Theater for Music and Dance.Tickets areIn addition to the categories listed below, three other honorees have already been announced. Paul Kahan of One Off Hospitality will receive the Culinary Excellence Award,will be named Iconic Restaurant, and Sarah Stegner of Praire Grass Cafe will accept the inaugural Environmental Leadership Award.Stegner is one of only a few women in this year's nominees, reflecting the upper ranks of the broader industry, with only four of 15 named nominees women - although some restaurants and bakeries up for nominations are led by women. One category change, from Pastry Chef of the Year to Pastry Program of the Year, takes away four of those named nominees, two of whom are women this year.Notable Chicago Chef NomineesOne other category has been slightly changed, from Beverage Program of the Year to Bar of the Year, although one nominee, Oliver's, is still both a restaurant- A Honolulu native who has also worked at Oriole in Chicago, Ching is behind the beef-focused, Korean-inflected tasting menu at West Loop's Bonyeon, a restaurant from Sangtae and Kate Park of TenGoku Aburiya and Omakase Yume. Heas chef de cuisine at Logan Square's Cellar Door Provisions, which is also once again up for Restaurant of the Year.- Denzer combines Nordic and Japanese influences, with an emphasis on seafood, at the tasting menu spot Atsumeru, which opened in West Town in 2025. Midwestern-French bistro Creepiesmagazine, while the West Loop restaurant from David and Anna Posey of Elske has been on just about every national best new restaurant list. So it's no surprise to also see it in the Banchet's Best New Restaurant category.- Backed by Oriole's Noah Sandoval and headed up by that Michelin-starred restaurant's former chef de cuisine Larry Feldmeier, All Well offers precisely calibrated a la carte plates on its bar side in addition to a five-course prix fixe menu in the West Loop.from David and Anna Posey of next-door Elske is receiving nonstop local and national attention only a year after opening, thanks in part to chef de cuisine Tayler Ploshehanski, who's up for Rising Chef of the Year. - Like Creepies, Petite Edith is a Midwestern-French bistro from an acclaimed husband-and-wife duo, although it leans more French and seafoody.Katrina Bravo and Jenner Tomaskathe artful, technique-heavy food Tomaska is known for, but at a lower price point, in River North. Tomaska is also up for Chef of the Year.Suburban And Neighborhood Restaurant Highlights- A trio who cut their teeth over years in Chicago's restaurant scene, including in the Gibsons restaurants, brought their hospitality expertise to northwest suburban South Barrington with the- Emidio Oceguera's family has run businesses out of the Pilsen building now occupied by this Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar for decades. Cerdito Muerto has received a good amount of hype since opening in 2025.in his debut restaurant, which features African diaspora food in Logan Square, and has been quietly building hype since opening earlier this year.- Those in search of Japanese food know to decamp to the northwest suburbs, where spots like Torizen (in Schaumburg) serve a population eager for homey classics.avec has always been known for its easy-drinking, surprising wine list that finds hidden gems at a reasonable price point from all around the Mediterranean, and McDonal has continued to uphold that reputation. - Ducker has to keep up with a constantly changing tasting menu full of as many as 30 tiny bites at Feld, finding wines and beverages that work across them all.Wine Pairing For Eclectic MenusFeld has received continual acclaim over the past year, including- Maxwells Trading has quickly become one of Chicago's most cherished restaurants for its eclectic mingling of influences under a generally Asian approach - not the easiest task for wine pairing, but one Duncan-Williams takes on with aplomb, in addition to her cocktails. Maxwells is also up for Restaurant of the Year. - New York-style slices aren't common in Chicago; independent restaurants in train stations even less so.Chomp Pizza, located under the 18th St. Pink Line station in Pilsen, is both