Austin's best new chef

Food & Wine names talented Austin chef on prestigious Best New Chef list for 2023

One of Austin's most popular chefs, Edgar Rico is in the spotlight once again.

Courtesy of Nixta

An Austin chef is basking in the national spotlight. Food & Wine magazine has selected Nixta Taquería chef-owner Edgar Rico for its 2023 Best New Chefs.

Rico joins 10 other chefs nationwide in the class that also includes Houston chef Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemó). He is the first Houston chef to earn a Best New Chef award since Justin Yu did so in 2014 for Oxheart.

Edgar Rico has earned acclaim for his casual approach to great food, including a Best New Restaurant award from Food & Wine and a James Beard Award for Emerging Chef in 2022. Nixta Taqueria gets its name from nixtamalized heirloom corn, which it serves in an accessible environment — normal for corn, but less so considering the amount of attention the restaurant constantly gets from awards and lists.

Nixta is currently raising money to fund renovations mandated by the City of Austin. More than 1,000 donors have raised over $100,000, and the restaurant has pulled together a plan that involves a new food truck, pop-ups, and "explor[ing] different parts of our little taqueria together," as stated in an Instagram post.

Food & Wine restaurant editor Khushbu Shah writes: “Take a trip to Texas, and you will find not one but two chefs putting the story and flavors of heirloom corn at the center of their menus. Although Emmanuel Chavez and Edgar Rico have wildly different approaches, their respect and belief in the importance of maize are the same.”

Houston's Tatemó also spotlights corn processed in-house process using a traditional nixtamalization technique, serving a seven-course tasting menu built around dishes made with heirloom corn.

Chavez, who opened Tatemó in 2021 with his partner Megan Maul, is no stranger to national recognition. Last year, Esquire named his 20-seat establishment to its list of Best New Restaurants. He also earned a finalist nomination in the 2023 James Beard Awards for America’s Best New Restaurant. He won Rising Star Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

"We're not a Mexican restaurant. We're a Houston restaurant," Chavez said on an episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast. "Everything we source, as far as produce, is from within the city. Other than caviar and kampachi from California, it's Texas produce. It's a Texas restaurant inspired by maize. It's maize driven. That's how we like to identify ourselves."

Considered among the more prestigious honors a chef can receive, Food & Wine takes great care to assemble its class of Best New Chefs. Shah traveled to 23 cities in three months, per the magazine, to visit a broad spectrum of restaurants. It also ensures the chefs operate ethically, as it explains: “F&W conducts background checks and requires each chef to share an anonymous multilingual survey with their staff that aims to gauge the workplace culture at each chef’s establishment.”

"The 2023 Food & Wine Best New Chefs represent a profound shift in the industry," Food & Wine editor in chef Hunter Lewis added in a statement. "They're not only creating exceptional food and dining experiences for their customers, but also cultivating nurturing environments for their teams. As a result, their restaurants are places of celebration, education, and joy. We are thrilled to showcase their excellence and innovation."

Food & Wine Best New Chefs 2023

Amanda Shulman - Her Place Supper Club, Philadelphia
Edgar Rico - Nixta Taqueria, Austin
Aisha Ibrahim - Canlis, Seattle
Isabel Coss - Lutece, Washington, DC
Steven Pursley - Menya Rui, St. Louis
Nando Chang & Valerie Chang - Itamae, Miami
Hannah Ziskin - Quarter Sheets, Los Angeles
Ed Szymanski - Dame & Lord's, New York City
Eunji Lee - Lysée, New York City
Emmanuel Chavez - Tatemó, Houston

awards news-you-can-eat chefs

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.