Last night’s James Beard Awards ceremony in Chicago contained many wonderful things: Shout-outs to patient spouses. Acknowledgments of sobriety. Multiple winners repping traditional Japanese garments. What the evening did not contain: any winners from Washington state.

But we do have a strong connection to one of the chefs who walked away with a medal. Hajime Sato founded the sushi restaurant Mashiko in West Seattle in 1994. In 2009, he went all in on sustainable seafood. He took standards like bluefin tuna off the menu and installed a rigorous set of guidelines and some responsibly fished menu items to match. Today this remains a bold choice. Fifteen years ago, it was nothing short of revolutionary.

Mashiko helped move the conversation around sustainable fisheries forward in Seattle. A decade later, in 2019, he sold the restaurant to three longtime staff members and moved to Michigan, his wife’s home state. Last night, Sato won Best Chef: Great Lakes for his restaurant, Sozai, in Clawson, Michigan. And he looked great doing it; the chef wore a traditional obi, yakata, and haori to the black-tie ceremony. Hajime, we knew you when.

Seattle had a rough night medal-wise, but a great slate of nominees suited and gowned up for the event; Outstanding Restaurateur finalists Quynh and Yenvy Pham even wore custom matching jackets. Our state went into this weekend with some strong representation. Mike and Erin Easton flew out from Waitsburg to contend in the Best New Restaurant category. Janet Becerra of Pancita was up for Emerging Chef.

Finalists in the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category included Kristi Brown of Communion, Melissa Miranda of Musang, Avery Adams of Matia on Orcas Island. Portland chef Gregory Gourdet won in that category, one year after Kann took home the Best New Restaurant medal.

He stood before the crowd at Chicago’s Lyric Opera in a fantastic feathered jacket (its colors representing the national bird of Haiti) and spoke of his move to Oregon being a turning point in his sobriety. Now, he says, “I am able to gratefully work at a hub for Haitian culture and Haitian storytelling—in one of the most random places: the Pacific Northwest.” 

Portland also took home one of the night’s biggest awards. The team behind Langbaan won for Outstanding Restaurant. Owner Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom was emotional during his speech; he spoke of a difficult year that included his wife’s cancer diagnosis. As our colleagues at Portland Monthly put it, “Langbaan has endured as Portland’s hardest table to book (maybe it’s a tie with Kann these days).”

Here comes the obligatory disclosure that I’m involved with the awards’ restaurant and chef committee. It’s a complicated feeling to have joy for deserving winners and frustration that Washington is overdue for recognition it deserves. So let’s return to one of the night’s most enduring messages: Running a restaurant—especially a great one—is incredibly hard, life-consuming work. Especially right now, between high costs and years of unrelenting uncertainty. Celebrating our chefs with medals would be nice, but celebrating them with our business matters more.