Rick Bayless inducted into Chefs Hall of Fame for Chicago culinary excellence

The Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame honored one of Chicago's finest Wednesday evening, with the induction of Chef Rick Bayless of Topolobampo and Frontera Grill.

Bayless is the third Chicago chef to be inducted into the Chefs Hall of Fame following Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter's in 2006 and Jimmy Bannos of Heaven on Seven in 2007. Trotter was on hand to award Bayless his trophy at the Loop's Palmer House Hilton, where the event was held.

"I am not usually a person that is without words, but I feel sort of without words right now," said Bayless as he addressed the crowd.

"I hop out of bed every morning thankful not only that I was able to follow my passions but that it landed me here in Chicago because I love Chicago, and I love what's happened to our city," Bayless said.

Bayless, who was born to an Oklahoma family of restaurateurs and grocers, moved to Chicago in 1987 opening Frontera Grill, a restaurant that specializes in "contemporary regional Mexican cooking," and is located on Clark Street in the River North area.

Bayless has won numerous awards over the years including a 1991 James Beard Award for "Best American Chef: Midwest" and a 1995 James Beard Award for "National Chef of the Year." Bayless was also honored as "Humanitarian of the Year," by the Beard Foundation in 1998.

"Twenty years ago Mexican food in America was really more of a Tex-Mex thing consisting of such exotic dishes as fajitas or burritos and containing those commonly used south of the border ingredients like sour cream, shredded Colby Jack cheese and flour tortillas," said Steve Dolinsky, a 12-time James Beard award winner for his TV and radio work, during his introduction of Bayless.

"Over the years and with almost a rigorous single-minded vision Rick has forced not only Chicago but the country to rethink how we approach Mexican cuisine just like Julia Child tackled the French repertoire," he added. "Rick jumped head first into what is commonly referred to as authentic regional Mexican cuisine. Hello warm hand-made Mexican tortillas!"

The event also included a "wandering feast" by Chef Stephen Henry of the Palmer House Hilton and was assisted by local culinary schools, including: the College of DuPage, the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, Elgin Community College, French Pastry School and Washburne Culinary Institute.

Aspiring chef Nicole Pedota, 24, of the College of DuPage jumped at the chance to volunteer for the event.

"They asked us a few months ago, way back in May, if we wanted to volunteer for this event, and we said 'Yes, we'll do it, we love helping out," said Pedota.
She said events like this give culinary students valuable insight into the industry and enable them to network and meet influential chefs in their field.

Pedota and her colleagues from the College of DuPage prepared a spicy lamb ragout for the event, topped with arugula pesto and a little yogurt.

"This is absolutely the best time to live here in Chicago," Bayless said. "We have more culinary schools than we've ever had, and we have more students in those schools. Our appreciation for food has just skyrocketed, but it's only going in step with our ability to cook that food."

"When I look at and see the transformative opportunities that we have with food I am really thankful that I've chosen this as my profession because I can look at the diners that are in our restaurant, and I see them taste things, and they change. They become different people; they become more complex people," said Bayless. "They taste the ingredients that we have worked so hard to bring from our local farms; they taste history and tradition."

Following the success of Frontera Grill, he and his wife, Deann, opened Topolobampo, considered one of the only fine-dining Mexican restaurants in the country. He is also the founder of the Frontera Farmer Foundation, which is an organization that supports small local farmers.

His work in and out of the kitchen is one of the reasons Bayless was chosen by the Chicago Culinary Museum for the Chefs Hall of Fame.

"[The selection committee] is looking for the overall body of work for the individual over their career," said Barbara Kuck, culinary historian and curator for the Chicago Culinary Museum. "They are looking for someone who is supportive of the culinary food service hospitality industry and students. They have to give back to the community, and it's important that they also offer job opportunities."

In addition to his foundation, Kuck said Bayless also started an annual scholarship at Kendall College, located near Goose Island, that provides a full ride to a Chicago public school student with a Mexican-born parent or grandparent.

The Chicago Culinary Museum, based in Schiller Park, was founded in 2006 by chefs John Kaufmann and John Castro.

"They thought it would be nice to have a culinary museum in Chicago.knowing that Chicago has played a very important role in American food history, not just because of chefs that worked here but because of the food corporations, the hotels, the restaurateurs and the food products that were invented here," said Kuck.

"The concept of this museum is to focus on Chicago as a culinary Mecca while preserving the past, present and future of the food service hospitality industry," she said.