Michelin Meals

Austin's Hestia visits French friends in Dallas for live-fire dinner

Acclaimed Austin restaurant Hestia is bringing its live fire cooking to a collaborative dinner at Dallas' esteemed French restaurant Mamani this August. The one-night-only event comes on the heels of another collaboration between the two Michelin-starred restaurants, part of Hestia's annual Lone Star Dinner Series.

The "Mamani and Friends: Mamani x Hestia Dinner" will take place Tuesday, August 4, at Mamani in Uptown Dallas. The menu for the eight-course event is still under wraps, but since Hestia is known for live-fire cooking and Mamani is parking a grill outside for the occasion, it's safe to say the sears and smokes will be the spotlight.

Mamani wine director Josh Ponthieux will create optional wine pairings for the experience. Three of Hestia's top chefs — Kevin Fink, Paul Wensel, and Tavel Bristol-Joseph — will be in attendance, alongside Mamani's executive chef and partner Christophe De Lellis, a press release details. Both Fink and Bristol-Joseph have been James Beard Award finalists (in 2020 and 2026, respectively), establishing the chefs as culinary icons in their own right.

"I thought it was cool to bring to Mamani another Texas Michelin restaurant with a very different approach than ours," De Lellis said in a statement. "We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Hestia’s team and do something really special for our community here in Dallas."

Mamani executive chef and partner Christophe De Lellis Mamani opened in Dallas in 2025 under chef Christophe De Lellis, whose menu blends influences from Paris and the French and Italian Rivieras.Courtesy of Mamani

Dallas' Mamani earned a Michelin star just two months after opening in 2025 and recently won Restaurant of the Year at the 2026 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards. Austin's Hestia was awarded its star in 2024.

De Lellis will travel to Austin to cook with Fink for Hestia's Lone Star Dinner Series two weeks before the Dallas dinner takes place. The Austin series began its current season on June 16 with Tatemó, a Houston restaurant that builds the majority of its menu on masa. The Mamani dinner will be held July 21 and will be followed by a dinner with Austin's Michelin-rated InterStellar BBQ on August 25.

CultureMap was in attendance for the 12-course kickoff June 16, where chefs from both restaurants worked together in the kitchen — one team in black and the other in white — to deliver a diverse menu with a light seafood focus and Texas touches.

Hestia's dishes included a farmed oyster with refreshing, summery garnishes; a tiny kampachi roll; Texas Wagyu tartare with Thai basil and a fragrant jalapeño flatbread; and an Italian-inspired, dry-aged Berkshire pork coppa with kosho (fermented citrus and chili paste), radicchio, and marinated Sungold tomatoes. Each restaurant contributed one dessert, with Hestia's elegant corn pavlova serving as a well-balanced finale to the meal.

The Mamani x Hestia dinner will be held on Tuesday, August 4. Only 100 tickets ($235 per person) will be sold for the event, plus optional wine pairings ($135). Reservations open Tuesday, June 23, via OpenTable.

Photo by Dan Padgett

The Mamani x Hestia dinner will take place on August 4.

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Brianna Caleri contributed to this story.

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Just a Bigger Space

Award-winning Austin burger joint to open first brick-and-mortar

Photo by Ashley Estave

JABS does one type of burger very well, and consistently.

An increasingly popular Austin burger seems poised to skyrocket in public recognition when JABS moves into its first brick-and-mortar location at 1920 East Riverside Dr. No opening date has been set, but it's expected to happen before the end of this year, a press release says.

JABS, short for the humble-brag "Just A Better Smashburger," has a loyal following convinced that the name is absolutely true. For the uninitiated, a smash burger is one that's been smashed flat on a griddle to create crispy edges. They're also easy to layer with other flavors; in the case of the JABS "OG," that's grilled onion, American cheese, pickles, and secret sauce on a Martin’s potato roll.

JABS burgers The crispy edges are really on display here.Photo by Ashley Estave

The simple menu offers the same flavor combo a few times — with one, two, or three premium Angus beef patties — and one "classic" burger with leaf lettuce and tomato rounds added on. At the Cedar Park location, the flavor combo also includes grilled jalapeños. Fries, which can be loaded or seasoned depending on the location, are the only sides, keeping the focus on the burgers.

The new restaurant will span 1,400 square feet, a big upgrade from the three current locations: a trailer at Always Something on Rainey Street, a trailer at the All Good in Cedar Park, and a stand at Fareground, Austin's downtown food hall.

Brothers Faseeh and Faraz Vohra started JABS as a way to feed family and friends, launching it as a trailer in 2023. Now they're celebrating an important win at the 2026 Austin Monthly Burger Bash, where guests tried 25 burgers from local restaurants and voted JABS their favorite. This is the second win in a row for JABS and a record for the Burger Bash, since this is the first time a restaurant has won top awards in consecutive years, the release says. JABS was also named No. 31 among the World's Best Burgers.

JABS co-founders Faseeh Vohra and Faraz Vohra JABS co-founders Faseeh and Faraz Vohra.Photo by Ashley Estave

"My brother Faseeh and I are inspired by the love we've received from the Austin community," says Faraz Vohra in the release. "Opening a brick-and-mortar feels like a natural next step – a chance to serve our loyal customers in the South Shore area and reach new ones while planting deeper roots in Austin's incredible food scene."

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