Eight Austin Chefs and Restaurants Make It to James Beard Award’s Semifinalist List of 2024

The 2024 James Beard Awards semifinalists announcement is out, and eight restaurants and chefs from Austin are recognized.

In the Best Chef, Texas category, five Austin chefs made the cut, including:

• Tavel Bristol-Joseph, of Caribbean restaurant Canje (a 2022 Eater Award winner)
• Geoff Ellis, of deli Mum Foods Smokehouse & Delicatessen
• Joseph Gomez, of Mexican food truck Con Todo (a 2022 Eater Award and Eater Best New Restaurant winner)
• Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, of New American restaurant Birdie’s (a 2021 Eater Award winner)
• Fermín Nuñez, of Mexican restaurant Suerte (Nuñez was a 2018 Eater Award winner)

Meanwhile, Austin chefs were recognized in three other categories:

• Austin ramen destination Ramen Del Barrio from chef Christopher Krinsky — which was a 2023 Eater Award winner — is in the running for Best New Restaurant.
• Mariela Camacho of bakery Comadre Panadería, a 2021 Eater Award winner, was given a nod in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category.
• The Outstanding Wine and Beverage category saw pizza and wine restaurant Bufalina make the long list, overseen by Rania Zayyat, Brianna Leahy, Lauren Williamso, and owner Steven Dilley.

The rest of the Texas category includes the following chefs: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring; Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó, Houston; Mark Clayton, Squable, Houston; Christopher Cullum, Cullum’s Attaboy, San Antonio; Victoria Elizondo, Cochinita & Co., Houston; Alexandra Gates, Cochineal, Marfa; Andrew Ho, Andrew Samia, and Sean Wen, Curry Boys BBQ, San Antonio; Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin, Best Quality Daughter, San Antonio; El Paso; Misti Norris, Petra & the Beast, Dallas; Ana Liz Pulido, Ana Liz Taqueria, Mission; Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman, José, Dallas; Regino Rojas, Purépecha, Dallas; Arnulfo Sánchez III, Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, Grapevine; Rich Vana, The Heritage Table, Frisco.

Barbecue restaurant Barbs B Q (which was named one of Eater’s best new restaurants of 2023) in Lockhart appears in the Best New Restaurant category and San Antonio’s Mixtli received an Outstanding Restaurant nod.

This larger list will be narrowed down to a list of finalists on Wednesday, April 3. Winners will be announced at a gala event on Monday, June 10 in Chicago.

In 2023, while there were six Austin semifinalists, none made it through to the finalist round. That same year, Austin Mexican restaurant Joe’s Bakery won the foundation’s Classic Restaurant Award for the Texas region.

In 2022, Austin chef Iliana de la Vega of Oaxcacan restaurant El Naranjo was the first winner of the brand-new Best Chef, Texas category. In the same ceremony, Austin chef Edgar Rico of Mexican restaurant Nixta Taqueria won the Emerging Chef category.

Other previous Austin-based James Beard Award winners include Aaron Franklin in 2015, Paul Qui in 2012, and Tyson Cole in 2011 (a tie with Saipin Chutima of Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas).

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.