The James Beard Foundation has released its list of semifinalists for the 2025 Restaurant and Chef Awards, and San Antonio is well represented. Both established favorites and up-and-coming talents from the Alamo City made the cut, showcasing the city's vibrant and diverse culinary scene.
The James Beard Foundation has announced its latest crop of Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists for 2025. And once again, San Antonio is well represented. This year's class includes several familiar faces alongside multiple newcomers to the James Beard Award showdown in both national and regional categories.
Perennial James Beard nominee Mixtli, whether it be as a restaurant or individual accolades for chefs Rico Torres and Diego Galicia and other staffers, is no stranger to national recognition. Fresh off winning San Antonio's first-ever Michelin Star, the restaurant now finds itself contending in the Outstanding Hospitality category. Over the past few years, Mixtli has been an Outstanding Restaurant competitor. The pitmaster tag-team of David Kirkland and Ernest Servantes of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin have found themselves nominated in several categories in recent years as well, including back-to-back nods in the national Outstanding Chef category. Express-News dining critic Mike Sutter recently placed Burnt Bean Co. at the peak of his Top 10 Hill Country Barbecue list on the strength of both its smoked meats and attention to detail paid in side dishes and specials. On the homefront, the Best Chef: Texas category should offer some stiff competition for the rest of the state. Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin of Best Quality Daughter has been a semifinalist in both the Emerging Chef of the Year and Best Chef: Texas categories in the past for her deeply personal and inventive take on Chinese fare. She's joined by a full roster of San Antonio chefs making their respective James Beard Awards debut. Newcomers include Leo Davila, who marries his Mexican and Chinese heritage into the restaurant Stixs & Stone, which recently earned the No. 3 spot on Sutter's list of Top 25 Mexican Restaurants in San Antonio. The Southtown-adjacent Peruvian restaurant Leche de Tigre has earned several accolades since opening in 2023, including a recent 'recommended' designation from the Michelin Guide. Alex Sarmiento and Brenda Sarmiento of the taquería El Pastor Es Mi Señor may be fresh to the James Beard game, but they did catch the nation's eye with a featured appearance in the 2023 Netflix series 'Taco Chronicles.' Sushi also has come of age in the city. Chef Grey Hwang of Shiro Japanese Bistro has established himself as San Antonio's finest master of the craft, with a painstaking eye for details in technique and ingredient quality at his restaurant near the San Antonio Museum of Art. John Ramos and Jonathan Reyes of the recently opened Chika at The Creamery near Pearl may break from classic Japanese tradition with a style Reyes calls 'San AnTokyo,' but that hybrid approach has proven successful at their omakase hotspot. Despite many nominations over the past two decades-plus, San Antonio is yet to win a James Beard Award. The James Beard Foundation will announce its finalist nominees on April 2. The annual James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards winners will be declared June 16 during a ceremony in Chicago
JAMES BEARD AWARDS RESTAURANT CHEF SAN ANTONIO TEXAS CULINARY SCENE MICHELIN STAR OUTSTANDING HOSPITALITY BBQ CHINESE CUISINE SUSHI PERUVIAN FOOD MEXICAN FOOD
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