The James Beard Foundation Award announced its list of finalists this morning, and a handful of Texas chefs and culinary journalists made it through to the final reaping.
As Texas Monthly reported last month, fourteen chefs and restaurants from across the state were dubbed James Beard Award semifinalists. Today, the nominees for Best Chef Southwest were announced and four of the five are from Texas: three chefs from Houston (Justin Yu of Oxheart, Chris Shepherd of Underbelly, Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s), and one from Austin (Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine). Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap was also honored with a nomination in the James Beard Foundation America’s Classics category.
In the journalism awards, Lisa Fain’s blog, Homesick Texan, was nominated for best Individual Food Blog, and the Houston Chronicle’s Alison Cook received a second consecutive nomination for the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award for three selected features: “Corkscrew BBQ: a New Houston Classic,” “The Cosmic Soup of Pho Hung,” and “The Pass Unleashes Plates of Playfulness.” The journalism winners will be announced on May 2, three days earlier than the culinary awards, which take place on May 5 at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
Stay tuned for more news.
