Bon Appétit magazine has just planted a Texas-sized smooch on our culinary scene. Four restaurants in the Lone Star State appear among fifty nominees for the best new restaurants in the country. The list, revealed Tuesday, precedes the magazine’s final choices for the “Hot 10,” to be announced on September 17.
The Texas selections were decidedly on the casual side—as were many of the others nationwide—a trend that has been holding true for “best restaurant” lists in many publications at least during the last two years.
Getting the nod, in alphabetical order, are Blood Bros. BBQ, described as having “stellar Texas ’cue with Chinese and Vietnamese influences,” in Houston (it made Texas Monthly‘s list of the Top 25 new barbecue joints this spring), and Carpenters Hall, in Austin’s Carpenter Hotel, which was cited for its “plate-size cutlet” at a “way-more-than-a hotel restaurant.” (The Bon Appétit article acknowledges that Andrew Knowlton, the magazine’s editor-at-large, is involved in the restaurant).
Two Dallas restaurants were singled out: Khao Noodle Shop, praised for “fun-size Laotian noodles and snacks [that] turn a strip mall into a destination,” and Petra and the Beast: “Misti Norris is the master of cured meats at this charcuterie-and-fresh-pasta haven.” Petra has received praise aplenty from other publications; it came in at number seven on Texas Monthly‘s list of best new restaurants, in which we described it as “a beacon for aficionados of foraging, fermenting, and whole-animal cookery.”
To celebrate the announcement of its final list of ten, Bon Appétit is planning a “Best Weekend Ever” of parties, classes, and dinners, October 17-9 in New York. Ticket holders will, depending on how much fun they can afford, get to rub shoulders with the winning chefs and the magazine’s editors and test kitchen cooks. Individual events start at $100 each and access to the entire shindig can be purchased for $1,500.
