Houston is well represented on the list of semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards. Overall, Houston received eight nominations in national categories and four nominations for Best Chef: Texas.
The national nominees are:
- Outstanding Restaurateur: Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, H-Town Restaurant Group
- Outstanding Chef: Manabu Horiuchi, Katami
- Emerging Chef: Max Lappé and Jacques Varon, Baso
- Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres, Maximo
- Best New Restaurant: Agnes and Sherman
- Best New Bar: Lee's
- Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: June Rodil, March
- Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Kristine Nguyen, Bludorn
Houston's Best Chef: Texas nominees:
- Ope Amosu, ChòpnBlọk
- Kent Domas and Seth Siegel-Gardner, Milton's
- Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, JŪN
- Shawn Gawle, Camaraderie
Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize excellence by chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. The James Beard Foundation added three new categories last year to recognize the beverage side of hospitality: Best New Bar. Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas boasts eight nominees, San Antonio has seven, and Austin received nine. Notably, only two of last year’s Best Chef: Texas finalists — Emil Oliva and Michael Serva — return as semifinalists for 2026, which means Houston’s Emmanuel Chavez of Michelin-starred Tatemó is off the list after being named a finalist in 2024 and 2025. Amosu and Jūn chefs Garcia and Lu were also semifinalists in 2025.
Houston is looking to build on last year’s victory by Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast in Spring, who became the city’s second Best Chef: Texas winner, joining Benchawan Jabthong Painter of Street to Kitchen. Houston’s other regional chef award winners include Robert Del Grande (Cafe Annie), Chris Shepherd (Underbelly), Justin Yu (Oxheart), and Hugo Ortega (Hugo’s). Houston cocktail bar Julep won the award for Outstanding Bar Program in 2022.
“We are thrilled to congratulate this year’s semifinalists as we mark another major milestone — 40 years of the James Beard Foundation,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “For four decades, the Foundation has recognized culinary excellence while championing the independent chefs and restaurants that are vital to our communities, economy, and culture. It is an honor to celebrate the 2026 semifinalists, whose work reflects the incredible dynamism, talent, and achievement defining our industry today.”
Finalists for the Restaurant and Chef Awards will be announced on March 31. Nominees for the Foundation’s Media Awards will be announced on May 6. The Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony will be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 15.
Tracy Vaught and Hugo Ortega, seen here with their daughter Sophia, are James Beard semifinalists.
