arbiters of taste

Austin chef will not be city's latest James Beard Award winner

Austin came up a little short in this year’s James Beard Awards. Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, chef-owner of Birdie’s, did not win Best Chef: Texas at the ceremony held on Monday, June 10.

Instead, the prize went to Ana Liz Pulido of Ana Liz Taqueria in Mission, Texas. Located in the Rio Grande Valley, Pulido has earned wide acclaim for her tacos and other dishes made with nixtamalized corn, her precisely made salsas, and carefully prepared meats and other fillings. In a 2022 review, Texas Monthly taco editor José Ralat hailed the restaurant as “worth the pilgrimage for taco lovers.”

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard awards recognize chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. Winners are selected by the foundation’s Awards Committee that is made up of media members, former winners, and others. See the full list of winners here.

The finalist position is still an achievement for chef Malechek-Ezekiel, who serves a constantly-changing menu at Birdie's based around seasonal proteins and produce. The restaurant blends a fast casual business model with a fine dining level of attention to detail and an extensive wine list. It has drawn lots of national attention, including being named a Best New Restaurant by both Esquire and Bon Appétit as well as 2023 Restaurant of the Year by Food & Wine and one of Austin’s 25 best restaurants by the New York Times. She won Chef of the Year in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

Wins have been sporadic at best in Austin, but things seemed to be looking up in recent years. In 2023, Joe's Bakery & Coffee Shop, Inc. was the sole Austin winner as an "American Classic." In 2022, Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria and Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo took home awards. It seems that Mexican cuisine generally offers Austin's best shot at a win. Before 2022, the last win went to Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in 2015.

Overall, it was a tough night for Texas chefs and restaurants, as Pulido was the state’s only winner. None of the nominees in the national categories took home prizes. They were:

Best New Restaurant: Barbs-B-Q, Lockhart
Outstanding Bar: Las Ramblas (Brownsville)
Outstanding Hospitality: Gemma (Dallas)
Outstanding Restaurant: Mixtli (San Antonio)
Outstanding Restaurant: Convenience West (Marfa)
Outstanding Chef: David Uygur, Lucia (Dallas)

In addition to Chavez and Pulido, three other chefs were nominated for Best Chef: Texas:

Christopher Cullum, Cullum’s Attaboy (San Antonio)
Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó (Houston)
Misti Norris, Petra & the Beast (Dallas)

Here's a closer look at the other nominated Texas chefs:

$Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of Birdie\u2019s$

Photo by Getty Images for James Beard Foundation

Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, chef-owner of Birdie’s.

At Cullum’s Attaboy in San Antonio, chef Cullum serves a French-influenced breakfast and lunch menu. The restaurant’s fast casual format belies the fine dining aspects of its food, which include a burger topped with demi-glace, classic escargot, and rolled omelets topped with freshly shaved truffles. Cullum, who famously began his career by washing dinners at his father’s River Walk jazz club, earned a nomination for Chef of the Year in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

At Tatemó in Houston, chef Emmanuel Chavez still has the status of being a two-times Beard Award finalist, having been nominated in the Emerging Chef category in 2023. He’s earned considerable national attention for his restaurant, which serves a tasting menu built around dishes that use nixtamalized heirloom corn. In 2022, Esquire named it one of America’s Best New Restaurants, and last year Food & Wine selected Chavez as one of its Best New Chefs — the first time a Houston chef had earned that recognition since 2014. Tatemó won Restaurant of the Year in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

At Petra & the Beast in Dallas, chef Norris serves a menu built around locally-sourced ingredients, including meats that are butchered in-house, an extensive charcuterie program, and lots of fermented items. It has earned widespread national recognition, including Best New Restaurant recognition from both Food & Wine and Texas Monthly and a Food & Wine Best New Chef award in 2019. Norris won Chef of the Year in the 2019 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, and Petra & the Beast won Restaurant of the Year in the 2024 Tastemaker Awards.

The awards were presented at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. The foundation also presented media awards on Saturday, June 8.

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Full disclosure:CultureMap Houston editor Eric Sandler is a voter in the James Beard Awards. Brandon Watson, Teresa Gubbins, and Amber Heckler contributed to this story.

chefs awards

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.

coffee openings closings