Eater Chicago’s Ashok Selvam Wins James Beard Media Award

The 2025 James Beard Foundation Media Awards took place on June 14 in Chicago, and Eater Chicago’s Ashok Selvam won the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award. The award recognizes, according to the Beards, “the work of an individual who engages readers through enterprising food and dining coverage, and whose work displays versatility in form, such as reviews, profiles, cooking, quick hits, and hard news reporting.”

Leading Eater’s Midwest region including Chicago, Detroit, and Twin Cities, Selvam was recognized for his enterprising reports like his coverage of the aftermath of Etta Collective’s bankruptcies and a feature on the evolving cuisine of Indian American chefs, as well as more light-hearted writing, including a spotlight on the milkshakes that helped White Sox fans endure a losing season.

In addition, Punch was recognized with a journalism award in the Beverage category for Craig Sauers’s feature story on the Herculean challenges that distilleries face in Thailand. This award recognizes “distinctive style, thorough knowledge, plainspoken prose, and innovative approach in a single article on alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages.”

These wins came among six nominations for Eater and Punch, including nominations for Eater correspondent Jaya Saxena for the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, Eater Chicago freelance contributor Nylah Iqbal Muhammad in the Foodways category, Eater’s video team in the Commercial Media category, and an additional nomination in the Beverage category for Punch contributor Mickey Lyons. This marks Eater’s 13th and Punch’s fourth James Beard Media Award in the past eight years.

Elsewhere at Vox Media, Gastropod co-host Nicola Twiley won in the Literary Writing category for her book Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves from Penguin Press.