The new class

Austin chefs and restaurants nab 8 James Beard semifinalist nominations in 2019

Yuyo's Maribel Rivero was one of two Austin women making their first appearance as a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: Southwest award.

Photo courtesy of Yuyo

Awards season may have ended in Hollywood, but for the American restaurant industry, it’s just getting started. On February 27, culinary nonprofit the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its prestigious awards — and Austin nabbed eight spots on the list.

The semifinalist round is the first step in receiving one of the culinary world’s highest honors. On March 27, the foundation will announce the five finalists in each category at a press conference at Hugo’s in Houston before heading to the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 6 to celebrate the final winners.

This year, the foundation enacted some changes to the policies governing the awards, an attempt to increase gender, race, and ethnic representation. Among them was an increase in diversity in the awards committees, greater transparency in the judging process, and a retiring of the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage program — an award bestowed only by past nominees that did not meet JBF’s new inclusion directives.

The commitment to broader representation is readily apparent in the Best Chef: Southwest category. Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo and Maribel Rivero of El Chile Group’s Yuyo became the first Austin women to be included in the category, and only the third and fourth Austin women to be included in any of the chef categories since the award was founded in 1991.

The only two other Capital City women to have received a chef nod were Janina O’ Leary, a Rising Star Chef of the Year semifinalist for her work at Trace and Laura Sawicki of Launderette, receiving recognition in the Outstanding Pastry Chef field for the fifth time.

The remainder of Austin's Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist nominees were veterans of the long list. James Beard favorite Bryce Gilmore was once again honored for Barley Swine, his ninth nod for the restaurant; Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie and Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye were included in the category for the second time.

Other honorees from Austin include Jeffrey Stuffings from Jester King, who repeated his 2018 success as an Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional semifinalist. Suerte added another feather to its cap as one of 30 restaurants considered for the Best New Restaurant title. Kyoten, the Chicago rework of chef Otto Pham’s former Austin concept, also appeared in that category.

Overall, Texas was well-represented in the announcement. Houston received 11 nominations, including Ronnie Killen (Killen's Steakhouse), Trong Nguyen (Crawfish & Noodles) and Kaiser Lashkari (Himalaya) for Best Chef: Southwest; Jonny Rhodes (Indigo) for Rising Star Chef of the Year; Chris Shepherd (Georgia James) for Outstanding Chef; and Tracy Vaught (H-Town Restaurant Group) for Outstanding Restaurateur. Also among the nominees were Anvil Bar & Refuge for Outstanding Bar Program, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse for Outstanding Wine Program, The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation for Outstanding Restaurant, and Tony’s and Hugo’s for Outstanding Service.

Dallas nabbed six spots — Regino Rojas (Purépecha Room), David Uygur (Lucia), and Bruno Davaillon (Bullion) for Best Chef: Southwest; Ricardo Sanchez (Bullion) for Outstanding Pastry Chef; Petra & the Beast for Best New Restaurant; and the French Room for Outstanding Service.

The only other Texas nominees were San Antonio's Steve McHugh in the Best Chef: Southwest category and Lubbock's Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producers.

Genuine Surprise

Austin coffee shop announces return immediately after sudden closure

Genuine Joe Coffeehouse/Instagram

Genuine Joe Coffeehouse is now under and optimistic spell.

An Austin coffee shop has experienced a roller coaster over the past week. On October 31, Genuine Joe Coffeehouse announced it would close, but after some community help, it's back on track to stay open with some changes to make the business more stable going forward. One of those seems to be a new location that hasn't been announced yet, according to a social media post.

The original message announcing the closure was posted on Instagram: "Genuine Joe is closed for the foreseeable future," it said. "Yesterday was our last day of business. We are sorry to the community for the short notice- it surprised all of us too."

As Genuine Joe owner Josh Brown explained to KVUE, the property he rented had been sold to build condos in 2021. After that, the coffee shop only had a lease for up to six months at a time. Finally, KVUE reported, a hard demolition date has been set for February.

In the shop's next Instagram post, management thanked fans for their comments and established a GoFundMe page, which they explicitly said would not go toward reopening. "Donations will not go towards reopening, relocating, or any debt incurred by Genuine Joe Coffeehouse. Everything will go to the staff," wrote Leann Tipton, who is listed as the organizer of the fundraiser.

Just days later, another post went up announcing that Genuine Joe would reopen and continue business at the original location — meaning 2001 W. Anderson Ln. According to the post, what was raised from the now-disabled GoFundMe ($7,762) went entirely to staff in limbo.

The most explanation the post offers is that "a few special members of the GJ family" stepped up to help. It does not mention whether the help was financial or otherwise. It also announced some changes: an increase in prices, reduced hours, and fewer non-core offerings — namely, breakfast tacos.

This is, of course, not the whole story. The post promises to share more news later, specifically detailing the demolition and a new location.

Genuine Joe's current hours according to the post at 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays, and 8 am to 7 pm on weekends. Customers had strong reactions, and it looks like none bemoaned the reasonable changes.

"Crying tears of joy….. my family and friends are going to be so relieved they don’t have to hear me mourn genuine joe on the daily anymore," wrote one commenter. They weren't the only one in tears, if the rest of the comments were any indication.

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