James Beard Finalists 2023

3 Houston chefs and restaurants named James Beard Award finalists

Tatemó partners Emmanuel Chavez and Megan Maul.

Photo by Emily Jaschke

Three Houston chefs and restaurants are in the running for one of the food world’s most prestigious prizes. The James Beard Foundation has selected them as finalists for their annual Restaurant and Chef Awards.

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. Texas is considered its own region and one person will earn Best Chef: Texas.

The Houstonians in the running for national awards are:

Best New Restaurant: Tatemó
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Nancy’s Hustle

Six other Texan restaurants and chefs are in the running for national awards:

Outstanding Bar: Las Ramblas, Brownsville
Outstanding Bakery: Kuluntu Bakery, Dallas
Outstanding Bakery: La Casita Bakeshop, Dallas
Best New Restaurant: Restaurant Beatrice, Dallas
Best New Restaurant: Don Artemio Mexican Heritage, Fort Worth
Outstanding Restaurant: Lucia, Dallas

The finalists for Best Chef: Texas are:

Reyna Duong, Sandwich Hag, Dallas
Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen, Houston
Emiliano Marentes, ELEMI, El Paso
John Russ, Clementine, San Antonio, TX
Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland, Burnt Bean Co., Seguin, TX

Notably, all of this year’s finalists for both the national categories and Best Chef: Texas are new. None of them received nominations in 2022.

The finalists are drawn from a pool of semifinalists that included 10 nominations each for Houston and Dallas, seven for San Antonio, six for Austin, and two for Fort Worth.

Last year, Texans did well in the awards, with Houston cocktail bar Julep winning Outstanding Bar Program, Austin chef Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria) winning Emerging Chef, and Austin chef Iliana de la Vega (El Naranjo) winning the first ever Best Chef: Texas. In addition, two Texans won media awards — Austin chef Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due) for his cookbook, The Hog Book: A Chef’s Guide to Hunting, Butchering and Cooking Wild Pigs and Texas Monthly taco editor Jose Ralat for his Tex-Mexplainer columns.

The Foundation will reveal its Restaurant and Chef Award winners at an awards ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Media Award winners will be announced on June 3.

Courtesy of Street to Kitchen

Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen.

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a fresh start

Award-winning Houston cocktail bar diverts to new home in Montrose

Photo by Manoah Rodriguez

The Vilanova Ritual is prepared tableside in a teapot.

An award-winning Houston cocktail bar has found a new home. Diversión will reopen Thursday, June 19 in Montrose’s food-focused Harlow District development.

Located at 1226 W Clay Street, Diversión Montrose will occupy one of the two houses that comprise Emma Jane, the European-inspired teahouse that opened last year. It replaces the original location of Diversión that opened in early 2021 in Spring Branch. Both Diversión’s original location and Degust, its companion tasting menu restaurant, quietly closed last year.

Known for its polished service and elaborate cocktails, Esquire magazine named Diversión’s original iteration to its list of the Best New Bar in America for 2022. That ethos has been “refreshed” to be “a more intimate and playful setting,” according to press materials.

Patrons will find a new cocktail menu that includes drinks such as the Operation: ‘White Flame’ (vodka, dry vermouth, Earl Grey, and caviar); the Sand Dollar Beach, an on-trend mini martini; and the Vilanova Ritual, which is prepared for two people in one of Emma Jane’s signature tea pots. Food options include Korean fried chicken, a Japanese-style mushroom salad (sunomono), and caviar service with crème fraiche dip, soy caramel, and crepes.

While the original Diversión required a special trip to Spring Branch, the new one could be one stop on an evening in the Harlow District. Located on the property that served as the home to treasured Italian restaurants Nino's, Vincent's, and Grappino di Nino, the development now includes upscale Italian restaurant La Griglia, premier sushi spot Katami, and lively patio bar Verde Garden.

Diversión will be open Tuesday-Sunday from 5 pm-1 am.

Photo by Manoah Rodriguez

The Vilanova Ritual is prepared tableside in a teapot.

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