Dining Awards

The Rising Stars of StarChefs.com Austin and San Antonio let their lights shinebright at celebratory tasting and awards gala

Austin-San Antonio Rising Stars Award Winners.
Photo by Alicia Vega
Austin-San Antonio Rising Stars Award Winners.
Photo by Alicia Vega
StarChefs Managing Editor Will Blunt (Left) 512 Brewing Company owner KevinBrand and StarChefs Editor in Chief Antoinette Bruno.
Photo by Alicia Vega
StarChefs editors
Photo by Alicia Vega
StarChefs Rising Stars
Photo by Alicia Vega
Serving Drinks
Photo by Alicia Vega
Serving Drinks
Photo by Alicia Vega
Chef Paul Qui
Photo by Alicia Vega
StarChef's Will Blunt with Chef Andrew Weissman
Photo by Alicia Vega

The stars were bright at the Driskill Hotel Tuesday evening as StarChefs.com hosted its Rising Stars Tasting Gala and Awards Ceremony to celebrate the best of the best from the Austin and San Antonio dining scenes. The second floor of the historic hotel was decked out with a maze of tables set up for a sold out event of more than 400 guests to sip and savor the tasty delights served by the Rising Star winners.

StarChefs.com, is the magazine for culinary insiders. Each year the The Rising Stars awards are held in four select cities to recognize up-and-coming chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers and mixologists from around the country that represent future leaders of the national culinary scene. This year, the online publication selected Austin and San Antonio combined as two of the top markets to watch in the nation.

The illustrious evening began with a momentous awards ceremony for the 19 Rising Stars restaurant professionals who were revealed a few weeks ago. (See full list below.) In addition, the editors of StarChefs.com also revealed their top pick for best Brewer Award, which was Kevin Brand of 512 Brewing Company as well as a heralded mentor award for San Antonio culinary icon, Andrew Weissman. (The mentor award was selected from an anonymous vote by all of the Austin and San Antonio Rising Star winners.)

After the ceremony is when the real fun began, as the throng of hungry guests flooded the main room to get a taste of what the winning chefs had to offer. Each dish was a small-sized version of the particular dish that wowed the StarChefs.com editors the most during their voting process and each was paired flawlessly with either a wine, beer or sake from Austin’s Rising Star Sommelier, June Rodil of Congress restaurant.

Chefs barely had time to get their dishes plated as lines stacked up at each table, but as the evening wore on, everyone in attendance was more than satiated with what the talented team of winners had to offer.

“I don’t think we’ve every seen this many of our best chefs at an event like this all at once,” says Cathy Cochran-Lewis of Whole Foods Market and president of the Austin Food and Wine Alliance. “To get this many people here for some of the best food I’ve ever had at a tasting event is really quite a feat.”

Among the best dishes savored by guests? Tom Thornton of CultureMap Austin and the Austinist was a big fan of the cabrito (young goat) with polenta and natural jus from San Antonio chef Jason Dady. Pat Sharpe and Courtney Bond of Texas Monthly swooned over Uchi’s Japanese red sea bream with ginger broth and micro shiso with crispy fennel chips and Tribeza publisher George Elliman said the wagyu beef flank steak with fermented red pepper sauce and fried orzo from Foreign & Domestic was the best bite he’s ever had from chef Ned Elliott.

It seemed the belle of the ball for most guests, including myself, was the Italian sausage sandwich with roasted red onions, and basil pesto aioli sandwich from the Artisan Rising Star winners, John Bates and Brandon Martinez of Noble Pig whose line never quite seemed to die down. Another favorite was Contigo’s cauliflower gratin with currants, caper and toasted almonds in a balsamic reduction, though the dish itself presented quite a problem to serve correctly for a room of 400 people — but guests didn’t seem to mind.

In the end, the people’s choice for best dish was awarded to Uchiko Executive Chef Paul Qui, who served a sunchoke-dashi soup with uni, bottarga and baby carrots. Qui, who has already been racking up quite a prize list on Bravo’s Top Chef, nabbed a new Jade Range 18-inch commercial plancha — aka, a really nice flat grill top for chefs who like kitchen toys. (All winning chefs were awarded a brand new Vitamix blender, a coveted kitchen appliance for any serious chef of home cook.)

Festivities continued on at Contigo for a vibrant after party where chefs and guests alike were able to unwind and celebrate the hard work presented from the evening. Austin and San Antonio is StarChefs.com’s 36th market to host their nationally-recognized awards. Next in line is the great city of New Orleans where they will, no doubt, let the good times roll.

The Austin and San Antonio Rising Star winners are:

CHEFS
David Bull, Congress Austin
Ned Elliott, Foreign & Domestic
Aaron Franklin, Franklin Barbecue
Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine
Rene Ortiz, La Condesa
Paul Qui, Uchiko
Quealy Watson, The Monterey
Andrew Wiseheart, Contigo

PASTRY CHEFS
Plinio Sandalio, Carillon
Philip Speer, Uchiko

SUSTAINABILITY CHEF
Michael Sohocki, Restaurant Gwendolyn

HOTEL CHEF
Josh Watkins, Carillon

ARTISANS
John Bates and Brandon Martinez, Noble Pig

RESTAURATEURS
Tyson Cole, Uchi, Uchi Houston, and Uchiko
Jason Dady, Bin 555, Tre Trattoria, and Two Bros. BBQ Market

SOMMELIER
June Rodil, Congress Austin

MIXOLOGIST
Jeret Peña, The Esquire

HOST CHEF
Jonathan Gelman, Driskill Grill

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Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.