The James Beard Awards were not their usual selves this year. There was no Chicago gala, for one, and months after that announcement, the Foundation nixed handing out its Restaurant and Chef awards altogether. Instead, the James Beard Foundation held a Twitter broadcast to honor awards winners outside the main chef and restaurant categories, like the Leadership Awards, America’s Classics awards, Design Icon, and the Humanitarian Award.

The chef and restaurant awards nominees presumably watched from home with no expectations