'Despicable': James Beard Award Winner From Maine Denounces Trump for 'Hunting' Down Restaurant Workers
The "hard-working people" who wash dishes in the back of kitchens, said Dana Street, who owns a number of award-winning dining spots in the culinary city of Portland, "are the best of our people."
Winner of the 2026 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur, Dana Street, took the occasion of his acceptance speech on Monday night at a ceremony in Chicago to champion the back-of-house staff in his restaurants, a large number of whom are immigrant workers, for the role they play in the industry while also condemning the dastardly way they've been treated by the Trump administration over the last year or more.
Standing with the general managers of three of his Portland, Maine restaurants—Adam Beckworth of Scales, Matt Stewart of Fore Street, Christina "Chrissy" Dibiase of Street & Co.—as well as the manager of the restaurant group, Lauren Harrington, Street noted that his team was honored to represent the 340 employees across all the restaurant group's establishments, which also includes Standard Baking Company.
"We are here to accept the award for those 340 people," said Street.
"These people are the best of our people." —Dana Street, restaurant owner
"And I'd just like to add that some of the hardest working people are in the back of the kitchen—they're dishwashers," he continued. "They come from around the world, but mostly from South America and Central America. And this administration has spent the last year hunting these people, chasing them down, and detaining them—and forcing them to leave the country."
"These people are the best of our people," Street added. "They're hard working. They traveled here under duress to make a better life for themselves and the people they left behind. And to want to deport people like that—who do so much for this industry—and to bind them up and basically bully them into going home—is despicable."
Street's remarks received loud applause from the crowd, composed of restaurant workers, chefs, bartenders, and owners from around the country.
Earlier this year, following militarized operations in Los Angeles, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota, US President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also made communities of Maine—including Portland, the state's largest city and home to a large number of refugees and immigrants—a target for intensified raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
While immigrants and their families where forced to stay home or go into hiding over fear of harassment, arrest, or possible deportation, community members across the state mobilized to protest ICE operations and provide aid and support for those individuals and families negatively impacted.
In his remarks, Street suggested the policies of the Trump administration demand reflection not just in Washington, DC, but among the broader public.
"I hope the American people in general," Street said, "will realize their mistake, because they're responsible as well."
Full disclosure: This reporter, many years ago, washed dishes, bussed tables, tended bar, and waited tables at Street & Co. restaurant in Portland, Maine.
