The Food Oscars

James Beard semifinalists highlight a new crop of Houston talent: The big winneris . . .

Anita Jaisinghani is a semifinalists for Best Chef Southwest for Indika, and hernew venture, Pondicheri, also earned a nod for Best New Restaurant.
Photo by Louis Vest/OneEighteen/Flickr
The James Beard Awards are the Oscars of the food world.
Kata Robata's Manabu Horiuchi, a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest
Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Hugo Ortega of Hugo's
Photo by Terri Fensel
Rising Star Chef semifinalist Grant Gordon of Tony's
Tony's Blog
Outstanding Bar Program semifinalists Anvil Bar & Refuge
Photo via Anvil Bar & Refuge/Facebook

For the second year in a row, there are a plethora of Houston chefs and restaurants represented among the James Beard Award semifinalists. Is Houston a great food city? Tuesday's announcement is another reason to say "Hell yes!"

Anita Jaisinghani is Houston's big winner, with Pondicheri as the only restaurant in Texas in the prestigious Best New Restaurant category. Jaisinghani also got a nomination herself in Best Chef: Southwest for her flagship Indian-fusion restaurant, Indika.

"I never thought about it, I didn't think they paid much attention to ethnic food or to women chefs, so I'm very excited to be nominated," Jaisinghani says. "It's a boost of confidence. When you do something new that hasn't been done before, it's a little scary. New York gets so much of the fame and the glory but we do great things in Houston as well."

"I never thought about it, I didn't think they paid much attention to ethnic food or to women chefs," Jaisinghani says.

Joining Jaisinghani in the Best Chef Southwest semifinalists is Hugo Ortega of Hugo's and Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata. The inclusion of the trio — all of whom have been creating exciting ethnic food in Houston for years — is a bit of a departure from previous Houston-based semifinalists like Bryan Caswell, Randy Rucker and Monica Pope, who all make different kinds of modern American and Gulf cuisine.

"It's thrilling," says Tracy Vaught, owner of Hugo's and wife of Ortega. " It's been a long time coming and I think he is definitely deserving. It's exciting to have Houston finally be recognized."

Bobby Heugel and Anvil Bar & Refuge are semifinalists for the second year in a row, this time for Outstanding Bar Program. "It feels great to be part of such a good group of people from Houston," Heugel says. "The more that our bar gets recognition I think it's good for the city.

"I like that people are writing and talking about things going on in Houston. It's truly exciting to see that happen."

In the Rising Star Chef category, which honors outstanding chefs under the age of 30, Tony's 25-year-old executive chef Grant Gordon was also named a semifinalist. It's another honor for Grant, who took over the Tony's kitchen just under two years ago and received a rare four-star review from Alison Cook in December.

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Awards include about 20 chefs and restaurants as semifinalists in each of the 20 categories. (You can read the full list of semifinalists here.) The list of nominees (five finalists in each category) will be announced on March 19 and the awards are given out in New York on May 7.

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BBQ and lion dancers

Heights restaurant celebrates Lunar New Year with epic barbecue collab

Agnes and Sherman Khoi Barbecue Lunar New Year dinner

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

For many members of Houston’s Asian community, February is a time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. At Agnes and Sherman, the Asian American diner in the Heights, Lunar New Year provided the restaurant with its first opportunity to host its first collaboration since it opened in April 2025 with Khói Barbecue, the Houston pop-up that puts a Vietnamese spin on traditional Texas barbecue.

“We have always admired what Khoi Barbecue has done in the Houston scene,” Agnes and Sherman co-owner Lisa Lee tells CultureMap. “We think, very similar to us, they are presenting something that is thought of as traditional and really making it their own through family history and helping people to see another side of barbecue.”

Created by Agnes and Sherman chef and co-owner Nick Wong and Khói Barbecue founder Don Nguyen, the three-course menu included appetizers such as smoked duck wonton soup, sichuan lamb sausage, cha lua mortadella, and bun bo hue pig’s head torchon. The entree course included smoked brisket, smoked duck breast a l’orange, and char siu pork ribs. Dessert featured a cafe sua da panna cotta paired with a traditional whole orange and a fortune cookie.

The dinner drew a who’s-who of members of Houston’s restaurant community, including former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and nominees such as Raffi Nasr (Craft Pita), Ashley Lai (Dumpling Haus), KK Nepomuceno (formerly of Refuge), Annie Hoshiko (Subo), Josh Deleon (Underground Creamery), Christina Au (Blacksmith), and Omar Arellano (March).

A portions of proceeds benefited Asian Texans for Justice, an AAPI political organization devoted to promoting civic engagement, advocacy, youth leadership development, and coalition building. “This organization does critical work to educate the public and fight for issues that affect the community,” Lee says.

Beyond the celebration, the dinner marked an important moment in the restaurant’s evolution. The whirlwind first year has come with considerable acclaim, including an enthusiastic review in Texas Monthly and a Recommended designation from the Michelin Guide. With operations flowing more smoothly, Lee explains that she and Wong felt it was time to revive the collaborations they participated in prior to the restaurant’s opening.

“When we opened the restaurant, one of the tenets is being part of the community. It’s one of our core values,” Lee says. “We needed to make sure we were sustainable first before we started to branch out. If we can do more, we want to.”

Next up, Agnes and Sherman will host a pop-up with Food Mahjong Club, a New York City-based organization that’s held pop-ups in Chinatown. Taking place March 2, it will feature a mahjong tournament and food and drink specials. Details will be released soon.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

news-you-can-eat barbecue the-heights fundraisers