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Hyde Park's Damarr Brown of Virtue wins James Beard Award for Best Emerging Chef

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Noel 91³Ô¹ÏÍø
Noel 91³Ô¹ÏÍø
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Noel 91³Ô¹ÏÍø is an Emmy-winning reporter who joined CBS News Chicago in December 2022.
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Noel 91³Ô¹ÏÍø

/ CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some of the best chefs in the country are in Chicago this week for the so-called Oscars of the food world, the .

And Chicago is now home to three more winners of those prestigious awards.

Good luck getting a reservation at . One of its chefs has an impressive new accolade and he sat down with CBS 2's Noel 91³Ô¹ÏÍø to talk about Southern American comfort food.

"You know, a restaurant kind of shapes itself over time, so I think that it's maturing nicely I am the Chef de Cuisine at Virtue Restaurant where we are now."

Diligence is one virtue that got him here. Damarr Brown now deserves some rest.

"I didn't really get any sleep, but I'm not tired. I feel good."

Good is a chef putting it mildly.

"I guess I'm riding off this James Beard high."

Monday night at the Lyric Opera, Damarr Brown took home to Hyde Park the James Beard Award for "Emerging Chef."

"It's a huge honor. It's like the Oscars of the food world," Brown said.

The award is given each year to a talented chef, likely to make a significant impact in the years to come.

"It's somebody to watch. It's somebody that's coming into their own."

Before he commanded a kitchen of his own, he was soaking in all he could as a kid in Harvey, learning to cook from his grandmother, mom, and aunt.

"Yeah, I was raised by three wonderful women. My mother, Trena, my aunt, Inga, and my grandmother, Arlenem" Brown said, saying he spent a lot of time in the kitchen.

"They kept tight rings on me, so I would be in the kitchen next to them and helping them peel potatoes and picking green beans and all that kind of stuff," Brown said.

The meals he cooked at home inspire the ones he makes for the community.

"I've never been able to cook food like this, the food that I grew up eating, the food that I saw my grandmother cooking. I've also never gotten to cook for somebody who looked like me," added Brown.

He's been cooking professionally for 13 years, and can now add a new accolade.

"I was glad that I was in the first category so you could just rip the band-aid off," Brown said.

But his virtue is also humility.

"I really focus on not letting my highs get too high or my lows get too low," Brown said, adding that he'll savor this James Beard high before he gets back to the kitchen. 

"It's going to be a Wednesday. We're starting back. We'll be busy but we'll be ready for it."

This is the second year in a row Virtue has been honored. Last year, executive Chef Erick Williams took home the award for Best Regional Chef.

This year, that honor went to Genie Kwon and Tim Flores - chefs at Kasama in East Ukrainian Village.

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