Scenes From Our James Beard Pregame Lounge at the Park Hyatt Chicago

Wouldn't it be nice to hit a salon for a touch-up right before your black tie event? Where they're ready to pour you a drink and maybe pass a nibble of caviar? Us too, which is why we teamed up with the Park Hyatt Chicago to turn the hotel's Water Tower Suite into the ultimate green room.

That meant Merchant & Rhoades hot shaves and Mario Tricoci blowouts for chefs, writers, and food world hob knobbers, along with a bar provided by our friends at Campari and Wines from Charles Smith. The dapper team from VK Nagrani fixed up bow ties on tuxes, and Regalis Foods shared a whole mountain of caviar (really). All just the thing to prep attendees for the awards and inevitable after-parties, after-after-parties, and hungover breakfasts.

See scenes from it all in the photos below.