The 2020 chef and restaurant awards were canceled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The book and media awards were announced online on May 27, 2020.[2] A virtual event was broadcast from Chicago on September 25, 2020.[3]
General Cooking: Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook by Carla Lalli Music (Clarkson Potter)
Health and Special Diets: Gluten-Free Baking at Home: 102 Foolproof Recipes for Delicious Breads, Cakes, Cookies, and More by Jeffrey Larsen (Ten Speed Press)
International: Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa by Yohanis Gebreyesus with Jeff Koehler (Interlink Publishing)
Photography: American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta by Eric Wolfinger (Chronicle Books)
Reference, History, and Scholarship: The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration by Chris Smith (Chelsea Green Publishing)
Restaurant and Professional: The Whole Fish Cookbook: New Ways to Cook, Eat and Think by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant Books)
Single Subject: Pasta Grannies: The Official Cookbook: The Secrets of Italy's Best Home Cooks by Vicky Bennison (Hardie Grant Books)
Vegetable-Focused Cooking: Whole Food Cooking Every Day: Transform the Way You Eat with 250 Vegetarian Recipes Free of Gluten, Dairy, and Refined Sugar by Amy Chaplin (Artisan Books)
Writing: Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer by Bren Smith (Knopf)
Book of the Year: The Whole Fish Cookbook: New Ways to Cook, Eat and Think by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant Books)
Online Video, on Location: Handmade – How Knives Are Made for New York's Best Restaurants; How a Ceramics Master Makes Plates for Michelin-Starred Restaurants, Eater
Outstanding Personality: Roy Choi, Broken Bread with Roy Choi, KCET
Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location: Pati's Mexican Table – Tijuana: Stories from the Border, WETA
Television Program, on Location: Las Crónicas del Taco (Taco Chronicles) – Canasta, Netflix
Visual and Technical Excellence: Chef's Table, Netflix, Adam Bricker, Chloe Weaver, and Will Basanta
Visual Reporting (on TV or Online): Rotten – The Avocado War, Netflix, Christine Haughney, Erin Cauchi, and Gretchen Goetz
Journalism Awards
Columns: Power Rankings: “The Official Fast Food French Fry Power Rankings”; “The Official Spicy Snack Power Rankings”; “The Official Domestic Beer Power Rankings” by Lucas Kwan Peterson, Los Angeles Times
Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award: “Peter Luger Used to Sizzle. Now It Sputters.”; “The 20 Most Delicious Things at Mercado Little Spain”; “Benno, Proudly Out of Step With the Age” by Pete Wells, The New York Times
Dining and Travel: “In Pursuit of the Perfect Pizza” by Matt Goulding, Airbnb Magazine
Feature Reporting : “Value Meal” by Tad Friend, The New Yorker
Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication: The New Yorker
Foodways: “A Real Hot Mess: How Grits Got Weaponized Against Cheating Men” by Cynthia R. Greenlee, MUNCHIES / Food by VICE
Health and Wellness: “How Washington Keeps America Sick and Fat”; “Meet the Silicon Valley Investor Who Wants Washington to Figure Out What You Should Eat” by Catherine Boudreau and Helena Bottemiller Evich, Politico
Home Cooking: "Fry Time" by Nancy Singleton Hachisu, Saveur
Innovative Storytelling: “Food and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” by Gary He, Matt Buchanan, and Meghan McCarron, Eater
Investigative Reporting: “The Man Who Attacked Me Works in Your Kitchen’: Victim of Serial Groper Took Justice into Her Own Hands” by Amy Brittain and Maura Judkis, The Washington Post
Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award: “In Search of Hot Beef”; “Chef Jack Riebel Is in the Fight of His Life”; “Harry Singh on the Perfect Roti, Trinidad, and Life in the Kitchen” by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine
M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: “My Mother's Catfish Stew” by John T. Edge, Oxford American
Personal Essay, Long Form: “The Dysfunction of Food” by Kim Foster
Personal Essay, Short Form: “For 20 Years, happy hour has seen us through work — and life” by M. Carrie Allan, The Washington Post
Profile: “The Provocations of Chef Tunde Wey” by Brett Martin, GQ Magazine
Wine, Spirits, and Other Beverages: “Seltzer Is Over. Mineral Water Is Forever.” by Jordan Michelman, PUNCH
Emerging Voice Award: L.A. Taco
2021 awards
In August 2020, the James Beard Foundation announced that the 2020 awards presentation would be cancelled because of COVID[1] and they will “forgo its traditional Awards presentation in 2021, including the Restaurant and Chef Awards, Media Awards, and Restaurant Design Awards. We will not be accepting recommendations or submissions. We will be working with the Awards Committee and Subcommittees to overhaul the policies and procedures for the Awards.”[8]