and the nominees are...

11 Houston chefs and restaurants score James Beard Award semifinalist nominations for 2024

Houston is well represented on this year’s list of semifinalists for the James Beard Awards. Released today, the group includes 11 nominations splits between four nominees for Best Chef: Texas and seven nominees for national award categories including the night’s top two prizes: Outstanding Restateur and Outstanding Restaurant.

The local nominees for Best Chef: Texas are:

Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast (Spring)
Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó
Mark Clayton, Squable
Victoria Elizondo, Cochinita & Co

The nominees in the national categories are:

Outstanding Restaurateur: Itai Ben Eli and Itamar Levy, Sof Hospitality Group (Doris Metropolitan, Hamsa, and Bādolina Bakery & Café)
Outstanding Restaurant: Nancy’s Hustle
Emerging Chef: Ope Amosu, ChòpnBlọk
Best New Restaurant: Jun
Outstanding Bakery: Koffeteria
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Stephanie Velasquez, Ema HTX
Outstanding Hospitality: Bludorn

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. Winner must also have “demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” according to the organization’s website. The awards also include media categories that will be announced on April 30. Recipients of the coveted America’s Classic award will be announced on February 28..

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas boasts eight nominees, San Antonio has five, and Austin received nine.

Houstonians have fared well in the awards recently. Southern-inspired cocktail bar Julep won the city’s first ever national award in 2022 for Outstanding Bar Program. Street to Kitchen chef-owner Benchawan Jabthong Painter followed that up in 2023 by taking home the city’s first Best Chef: Texas award.

Notably, only a few of Houston’s 2023 James Beard semifinalists made this year’s roster. Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó moves from Best New Restaurant to Best Chef: Texas, where he's joined by Victoria Elizondo, who earned an Emerging Chef nomination in 2023. Nancy’s Hustle moves from Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program to Outstanding Restaurant.

None of last year’s finalists for Best Chef: Texas are named as semifinalists this year, but Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin have been moved to the national Outstanding Chef category.

Finalists will be announced on April 3. The Foundation will reveal its winners at an awards ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Photo by Julie Soefer

Bludorn is nominated for Outstanding Hospitality.

chefs james beard award news-you-can-eat semifinalists 2024 awards

bring on barnaby's

Favorite Houston comfort food spot picks Garden Oaks for 10th location

Courtesy of Barnaby's Cafe

Barnaby's Cafe is coming to the Stomping Grounds this fall.

Earlier this week, real estate developer Bryan Danna promised “big news…very soon” about a new tenant for the former LuLoo’s Day & Night space at his Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks. That news is that Houston favorite Barnaby’s Cafe has claimed the space for a new location that will open later this year.

When a Barnaby’s decal appear on the restaurant’s door a couple of days ago, news of the restaurant’s imminent arrival spread quickly on social media. It will be Barnaby’s tenth location, joining outposts in Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, and more.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,250-square-foot space at the Stomping Grounds. It will offer a to-go window for people hanging out in the development’s green space as well as a gated, dog-friendly patio. Houston artist Roberto Cervantes will contribute works to the restaurant’s interior.

Founded in 1992 by restaurateur Jeff Gale, Barnaby’s is known for its wide-ranging and affordable menu of classic American fare, including salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and dinner entrees. Customer favorites include the Lebanese chicken fattoush salad, chipotle black bean burger, baby back ribs, and green eggs, which are scrambled with spinach and artichoke hearts. Dogs can snack on a special “puppy menu” of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, or scrambled eggs over brown rice.

Stomping Grounds green space A to-go window will expedite orders for people in the Stomping Grounds' green space.Courtesy of Stomping Grounds

“Bringing Barnaby’s to Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been on my wish list for more than a decade, so I’m incredibly grateful that Jeff Gale and his team saw Stomping Grounds as the right fit,” Danna said in a statement. “Jeff and I go back to his first Heights location, which was one of Barnaby’s first big moves north of Montrose, and I have always respected what he and his longtime team have built. Thirty years in the restaurant business is a serious accomplishment. You do not make it that long unless you know how to take care of people, build loyalty, and become part of the neighborhood.”

When it opens this fall, Barnaby’s will be open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. It will join other restaurants at the Stomping Grounds, including Fat Cat Creamery, Tex-Mex restaurant La Mex, Bollo Woodfired Pizza, casual sushi restaurant Himari, Little Sister Cake Shop, and High Five Mini Bar. Earlier this week, casual Vietnamese restaurant Pho Prime announced that it had claimed the space formerly occupied by The Pho Fix for a new location that will also open this fall.

news-you-can-eat openings stomping grounds barnaby's cafe