Those running in the Texas wine circle are well acquainted with Kim McPherson. He owns his own label, McPherson Cellars, and he's been instrumental in moving the industry forward, consulting for many of the wineries across the state.
Tyson Cole is no stranger to the James Beard experience. The Uchi/Uchiko executive chef won the Foundation's Best Chef: Southwest Award in 2011, and this year he is a Semifinalist in the Outstanding Chef category.
After attaining so much success through the years, it might be tempting to start pumping the brakes a bit, but Cole is doing just the opposite. In fact, he is looking to the horizon with plans for even more Texas restaurants.
Oxheart, Justin Yu's 31-seat Houston restaurant, has received an immense amount of praise since opening in March of last year. Bon Appétit, GQ, Texas Monthly, and numerous media outlets have dubbed the vegetable-centric restaurant one of the best in the nation. Naturally when the James Beard Foundation announced its semifinalists for the 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards, it came as no real shock that both Justin Yu and Oxheart were honored as semifinalists.
Texas restaurants, architects, chefs, and journalists are featured in the list of the 2013 James Beard Foundation Award nominees, which were announced earlier this morning. The winners in the journalism categories will be announced May 3, and the restaurant/chef award winners will be revealed on May 6 in New York City.
The Texas nominees are as follows:
If you have some free time and access to a car, consider an outing to these joints, all within an hour’s drive, or maybe a little more: Snow’s BBQ in Lexington (note: open Sat morning only); Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor; Kreuz Market in Lockhart; Smitty’s Market in Lockhart; Cooper’s Old-Time Pit Bar-B-Que i
Chi'Lantro | Fusion
The Texas sweet onion is as distinctive as the state from which it originates and it will no doubt serve as a fitting emblem for the bounties of nature with which our state is blessed. — House Concurrent Resolution No. 148, designating the Texas sweet onion the state vegetable in 1997
This just in: John Tesar, the famously volatile and notably talented Dallas chef, seems to have abandoned histrionics to focus on running a kitchen. This is a sad day for those of us with boring lives who were once riveted by Tesar’s verbal fisticuffs with other chefs and his well-chronicled departures from leading restaurants. On the other hand, it’s a happy day for members of the dining public, who are battening down reservations at his new seafood-oriented venture, Spoon Bar & Kitchen.
Texas Monthly editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein debated BBQ at SXSW Monday, though as he tweeted prior to the panel, "let's be honest, this is a contest for second place."
