We’ve reached the final category in the 2025 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. These are the nominees for Chef of the Year.
This year’s nominees are an accomplished group. They hold Michelin stars and received Bib Gourmand designations. They are James Beard Award semifinalists, finalists, and winners. They’ve competed on Top Chef and been featured in national publications such as Food & Wine and The New York Times.
Of course they all serve consistently well-prepared dishes that keep diners coming back again and again. They’re also leaders and mentors who are guiding the next generation of cooks who will make their own mark on the dining scene. Many are involved in a number of local nonprofits, including I’ll Have What She’s Having and the Southern Smoke Foundation.
Who will win? Find out tonight, April 3, at the Tastemaker Awards party at Silver Street Studios. We’ll dine on bites from this year’s nominated restaurants and sip cocktails from our sponsors before revealing the winners in our short and sweet ceremony.
A very limited number of General Admission tickets remain. Buy yours before they sell out.
Here are the nominees for Chef of the Year:
Aaron Davis, Viola & Agnes
For years, Houston food obsessives have been making their way to Kemah to sample Davis’ take on soul food, but the chef’s reputation has finally grown beyond the Bayou City. The New York Times included the restaurant on its list of “50 Favorite Places in America Right Now,” hailing for his “rustic Southern cooking.” Diners at Viola & Agnes will find expertly fried seafood, a gumbo with a dark, smoky roux, and specials that could range from oxtails to baby back ribs. All that quality requires a little patience, as Davis and his small team make each order as they’re received. The wait is worth it.
Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen
“Chef G,” as she’s known to friends and admirers, has come a long way for her pop-up days of serving Thai omelettes at the Urban Harvest farmers market. She earned a James Beard Award at Street to Kitchen’s original location next to a gas station, and the restaurant’s move to a larger home in the East End allowed her to further expand her vision of modern Thai cuisine. She continues to be inspired by great ingredients — check out the things she’s doing with Australian wagyu, for example — as well as regular trips to Thailand.
David Skinner, Ishtia
After spending 10 years dazzling diners with theatrical presentations at Eculent, the chef decided to switch things up by seeking inspiration from his Choctaw heritage. The result is a restaurant that’s still unlike any other dining experience in Houston but with dishes that utilize ingredients from Native American farmers and foragers. Now that Ishtia has been open for a few months, Skinner plans to roll out new menus, including something he calls the “meat trolley.”
Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó
It’s hard to believe that Chavez only started selling nixtamalized tortillas at the Urban Harvest farmers market five years ago. In that short amount of time, he’s emerged as one of the rising stars in Houston’s culinary scene, earning three James Beard Award finalist nominations, a Food & Wine Best New Chef award, and a Michelin star. While his passion for masa is evident in every bite, it’s his treatment of his team and his support for other Houston chefs that really stands out. That generosity will fuel whatever he does next, because it doesn’t seem like one, 20-seat restaurant on the eastern edge of Spring Branch is a sufficient stage for his talent.
Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, Jun
Included among the semifinalist nominees for Best Chef: Texas is this dynamic duo of past and and current Top Chef contestants. Like a proverbial culinary Captain Planet, they’ve combined their powers — her deep knowledge of Mexican and Salvadoran flavors with his mastery of Chinese cuisine — into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Together, they’ve created memorable bites such as carrots with salsa macha and and beef tartare with sesame buñuelo, along with an ever-evolving array of seasonally-inspired fare. Beyond their skills in the kitchen, they’ve used Jun’s success to promote up-and-coming chefs by hosting pop-ups and collaboration dinners.
Felipe Riccio, March
Veteran Houston restaurant fans may recall Felipe Riccio as a line cook at Reef who hosted the occasional pop-up to showcase his love of pasta. Now, he’s leading the kitchen at the city’s Michelin-starred temple of Mediterranean fine dining. At March, Riccio combines his joy for feeding people with years of experience and a rigorous, research-focused approach to capturing the soul of the region that the restaurant is showcasing that season. The combination of knowledge and passion has created a restaurant that continues to improve, raising the possibility that it could be among the first restaurants in Texas to earn a second star.
Jason Ryczek, Little's Oyster Bar
The California native has fully embraced his new home in Houston. At Little’s, he showcases both Pappas Restaurants’ reputation for Gulf Coast fare such as redfish and snapper and his own passion for sustainably-sourced ingredients. Seasonal changes and nightly specials give Ryczek the opportunity to challenge his team to keep the menu fresh. While he’s adapted to Pappas’ famously generous portions, plans for an omakase-style tasting menu will give the chef to show off his love for an even more elevated experience.
Manabu Horiuchi, Kata Robata/Katami
Winner of Chef of the Year in 2019, Hori-san is once again nominated in a category that he could, if we're being honest, win every year. Just in case anyone was taking Kata Robata’s consistent excellence for granted, Katami serves as a reminder that he remains one of Houston’s top chefs. Partially inspired by a trip to Japan, Hori-san uses Katami to showcase more top Japanese ingredients, including multiple preparations of wagyu.
Mayank Istwal, Musaafer
The chef’s luxurious take on Indian cuisine helped lead the Galleria restaurant to a Michelin star. Alongside an a la carte menu with plenty of choices, Istwal displays his talent in a seasonal tasting menu that puts an Indian spin on global flavors. In addition to his talents in the kitchen, the chef’s warm personality exemplifies the warm service that’s a core component of every meal at Musaafer. All of those qualities will serve him well as the restaurant prepares to open its second location in New York City.
Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast
As this week’s James Beard Award finalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas demonstrates, the food world is making its way to Spring to sample Bille’s eclectic fare. While the original iteration of Belly of the Beast focused primarily on tacos, the new location provides Bille with the ability to showcase the full range of his talent. Mexican flavors remain at the heart of the restaurant, but the eclectic menu offers a global perspective, including everything from handmade pastas to lamb shank rendang.
Victoria Elizondo, Cochinita & Co.
Chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author — when Elizondo sets her mind on something, she achieves it. From humble roots as a pop-up, she’s grown Cochintia & Co. into a multifaceted business that includes both its restaurant in the East End and a thriving wholesale business that supplies totopos and tamales to a number of Houston-area gourmet grocers. A new location inside Lindale Park coffee shop A 2nd Cup will bring her tacos and other Mexican fare to even more Houstonians.
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The Tastemaker Awards ceremony is brought to you by Stella Artois, Chardon, Jim Beam Black, Ritual Zero Proof, Seedlip, Valencia's Tex-Mex Garage, Hornitos, Ghost Hill Organic Vodka, PicMe Events, and more to be announced. A portion of proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, the Southern Smoke Foundation.
The offerings include a burger, fries, and lemonade.Photo by Quit Nguyen
Remember the collab with this special T-shirt.Photo by Quit Nguyen