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Photo courtesy of Fairmont Austin

The 2023 rendition of the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide is out, and 26 properties in Texas have made the list — with eight in Austin.

This is the 65th annual Forbes Travel Guide, which a release describes as the only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas, worldwide. Bow down to Forbes Travel Guide, bow down.

Ratings are broken into three categories: Five-Star, Four-Star, and Recommended, Five-Star being the best. The list, which comprises 1,956 properties around the world, runs heavy on hotels (1378) and spas (314), with only 259 restaurants. And for the first year, the list also includes ocean cruises.

In Texas, the list included five restaurants, 12 hotels, and seven spas, although come on who cares about spas, it's the restaurants and hotels that are most intriguing, am I right.

In a reprise of 2022, only three properties in Texas earned five stars: Carte Blanche restaurant in Dallas, Post Oak Hotel in Houston (and its spa), and the Ritz-Carlton Dallas hotel.

These are the properties in Texas that made the 2023 list, by category:

Restaurants:

  • Carte Blanche / Dallas: 5-star
  • Fearing's / Dallas: 4-star
  • Garrison / Austin: 4-star
  • The Mansion / Dallas: 4-star
  • French Room / Dallas: Recommended

Hotels:

  • Adolphus / Dallas: Recommended
  • Archer Hotel Austin: 4-star
  • Austin Proper Hotel / Austin: 4-star
  • Commodore Perry Estate Auberge Resorts Collection / Austin: 4-star
  • Fairmont Austin: 4-star
  • Four Seasons Hotel Austin: 4-star
  • Four Seasons Hotel Houston: 4-star
  • The Houstonian Hotel Club & Spa: 4-star
  • The Joule / Dallas: 4-star
  • Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek / Dallas: 4-star
  • The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston: 5-star
  • The Ritz-Carlton Dallas: 5-star
  • Mokara Hotel & Spa/ San Antonio: 4-star
  • The St. Regis Houston: 4-star

Spas:

  • Fairmont Spa Austin: 4 star
  • Mokara Spa / San Antonio: 4-star
  • The Ritz Carlton Spa Dallas: 4-star
  • The Spa at Four Seasons Austin: 4-star
  • The Spa at the Joule / Dallas: 4-star
  • The Spa at the Post Oak Hotel Houston: 5-star
  • Trellis Spa Houston: 4-star

The Forbes Travel guide started in 1958 as Mobil Travel Guide, a guidebook for U.S. motorists. They created the original Five-Star rating system for hospitality in the U.S.

To determine the ratings, Forbes Travel Guide's inspectors visit every hotel, restaurant, spa, and cruise ship in person, visiting anonymously as a typical guest. Participants pay a fee to be considered, but no one can buy a rating.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Texas-based Cinemark theater chain hosts Oscars-themed movie marathon

Awards News

The Cinemark movie chain is giving movie buffs an opportunity to brush up on the Oscars.

Plano-based Cinemark Holdings, Inc. will host its annual Oscar Movie Week festival, this year running from Monday, March 6 through Sunday, March 12, in anticipation of the 95th Oscars ceremony, which airs on March 12 on ABC.

The theater chain will air all of this year’s Best Picture and Best Live Action and Animated Short Film nominees, at more than 120 participating Cinemark theaters nationwide.

According to a release, passes are now on sale now at Cinemark.com/movieweek.

A full Digital Festival Pass is $40 and includes showings for all Best Picture and Best Live Action and Animated Short Film nominees. There's a perk! If you purchase a festival pass, you get 50 percent off any size popcorn during Oscar Movie Week.

Individual showtime tickets will be available starting January 27 at standard pricing, with showtimes beginning March 6.

All Best Live Action and Animated Short Film nominees are bundled into one viewing for just $10 from March 10-12.

For other brushing up, take a look back at what CultureMap’s film critic, Alex Bentley, had to say about each of the nominees (listed in alphabetical order) when they were originally released.

Cinemark has been hosting other similar marathon events such its collaboration with ESPN to bring college football games to the big screen.

The event takes place at these theaters across the U.S., including the following locations in Texas:

  • Austin: Cinemark Southpark Meadows
  • Denton: Cinemark 14
  • Fort Worth: Ridgmar Mall
  • Grapevine: Cinemark Tinseltown
  • Houston: Cinemark Memorial City
  • Plano: Cinemark Legacy
  • Plano: Cinemark West Plano
  • San Antonio: Cinemark San Antonio 16
  • The Woodlands: Cinemark 17

Austin scoops up top 10 spot in list of best ice cream cities in U.S.

Ice Cream News

Fans of homegrown brands like Amy's Ice Creams or Lick Honest Ice Creams know that Austin has some of the best scoops in the country. So it's no surprise that on a recent list of the best (and worst) ice cream cities in America, Austin lands in the top 10.

The survey, compiled by real estate brokerage Home Bay, ranks 50 cities using factors such as the number of ice cream shops per capita, the price of a small cup or cone (using Ben & Jerry's as a benchmark), average annual temperature, and Google searches. Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, Yelp, and Google Trends.

The best
The best cities for ice cream have more shops (an average of 4.9 ice cream shops per 100,000 people), a high interest in ice cream (Google searches), and better prices, with a small cup of Ben & Jerry's averaging $4.47 versus the $4.50 residents pay in the average city.

Here's a surprise: Oklahoma City is America's best ice cream city, thanks to a high number of ice cream shops per capita as well as affordability.

Austin is the only Texas city in the top 10:

  1. Oklahoma City
  2. New Orleans
  3. Las Vegas
  4. San Jose, California
  5. Providence, Rhode Island
  6. Raleigh, North Carolina
  7. Salt Lake City
  8. Austin
  9. Boston
  10. Philadelphia

Way to go, Austin! This is what they say about Austin's ice cream scene:

Austin excels when it comes to appreciation of different ice cream styles. The city ranks third in our ice cream variety metric thanks to frequent searches for ice cream types and flavors. The slogan "Keep Austin Weird" is appropriate with so many locals going bananas: The city ranks first in online search interest for banana ice cream. Visitors can find two different types of banana ice cream — banana cream pie and strawberry banana — at local chain Amy's Ice Creams. Additionally, Austin has the seventh-warmest average temperature in our study, making ice cream especially appreciated as a sweet treat for relief from the heat.

And as a subset of this ice cream survey, San Antonio wins the No. 1 slot for Best Shaved Ice.

The worst
The bottom 10 cities have fewer ice cream shops, higher costs, and less ice cream interest in the topic, which they judge by the number of Google searches for topics such as "ice cream near me" and "ice cream flavors."

The 10 worst ice cream cities are as follows:

  1. Memphis, Tennessee
  2. Riverside, California
  3. Washington, D.C.
  4. Miami
  5. Houston
  6. Baltimore
  7. Los Angeles
  8. Sacramento, California
  9. Dallas
  10. Jacksonville, Florida

These cities have only 2.2 ice cream shops per 100,000 people. The average city has 3.4 shops per 100,000 people. And Dallas has only 1.4 ice cream shops per 100,000 people.

Ice cream in these worst cities is also more expensive. A small cup of ice cream averages $4.80 in the bottom 10 cities, versus $4.50 for the average city in the study.

Ice cream in Missouri and Alabama is the cheapest: $3.99 for a small Ben & Jerry's cone. Washington, D.C. is the most expensive, at $5.35 for a cone.

Rendering courtesy of St. David's HealthCare

Austin hospital earns healthy ranking from prestigious U.S. News & World Report

med center might

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2022-23 Best Hospitals list, naming Austin's St. David’s Medical Center as the No. 8 best hospital in Texas and No. 37 nationally.

Not the first accolade for the local facility, St. David's Medical Center's national ranking came courtesy of the hospital's post-procedure work and physical therapy in its rehabilitation department, which landed the facility among the top 51 out of 4515 hospitals nationwide.

Rankings for the annual U.S. News study are based on scores in patient care, patient safety, outcomes, nursing, advanced technology, and reputation.

One data point not used in the Best Hospitals rankings, but worthy of note: The hospital also earned four out of five stars in patient satisfaction, which measured how patients felt about their hospital stay and discharge overall.

At the top of the list was Houston's Medical Center, which boasts the best adult and children’s hospital in Texas and the best cancer center in America.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center earned No. 1 in the nation for cancer care. For those keeping track, MD Anderson has been considered in the top two cancer hospitals in the U.S. since the U.S. News launched the survey in 1990.

Elsewhere in Texas
Other Houston hospitals earned high rankings as well, with Houston Methodist Hospital coming in at No. 15 nationally and No. 1 in Texas for the 11th year in a row. Notably, U.S. News has ranked Houston Methodist Hospital in at least one specialty for the past 30 years. Houston's Texas Children’s Hospital ranked No. 2 overall in the Best Children’s Hospitals ranking, remaining top in Texas and the Southwest, and at No. 1 in heart treatment for the sixth year in a row.

Also boasting top honors in the state is the Menninger Clinic, which tied for tenth place on U.S. News’ list of best psychiatric hospitals, making it the all-out best in Texas.

Dallas-Fort Worth is home to the No. 2 hospital in Texas, per U.S. News. UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas also ranked especially well nationally in urology (No. 11), cardiology and heart surgery (No. 14), diabetes and endocrinology (No. 18), pulmonology and lung surgery, (No. 21), and cancer (No. 25).

Not far down the list is Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, which ranked No. 4 in Texas. One Baylor department ranked nationally: gastroenterology and GI surgery department, No. 34.

Courtesy of Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection

Austin hotels check in on Travel + Leisure's prestigious World's Best for 2022

Premier property

The Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, has had no shortage of accolades since it first opened in 2020.

And a new ranking from Travel + Leisure places the estate at No. 2 among the top 10 resorts in Texas, followed close behind by Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa at No. 3. The Houstonian in Houston came in at No. 1.

“The best resorts in Texas, according to Travel + Leisure are located in close proximity to the state's biggest cities but set on perfectly manicured grounds that make them feel worlds away when guests want to unwind,” reads the ranking.

Here’s Travel + Leisure’s list of the top 10 resorts in Texas, part of the publication's World's Best Awards 2022:

  1. The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, Houston
  2. Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, Austin
  3. Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa, Austin
  4. Gage Hotel, Marathon
  5. The Woodlands Resort, The Woodlands
  6. Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Irving
  7. JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, San Antonio
  8. La Cantera Resort & Spa, San Antonio
  9. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Grapevine
  10. Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa, San Antonio

Aside from naming two Austin properties among the top 10 resorts in Texas, Travel + Leisure also ranked the top five hotels in Austin. It’s the first time Travel + Leisure readers were able to vote on the best hotels here.

Appearing at No. 1 on the Austin list is Austin Proper Hotel & Residences, followed by Arrive Austin at No. 2, the Four Seasons Austin Hotel at No. 3, The Driskill at No. 4, and the Fairmont Austin at No. 5.

Amenities at the 32-story, 244-room Austin Proper include two pools, a spa, a fitness center, and complimentary bike rentals. McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality operates the hotel’s dining venues, including La Piscina, a rooftop poolside Mexican restaurant, and the Peacock Mediterranean Grill.

“Located in the 2nd Street District, the hotel is just a short walk from Lady Bird Lake, indie boutiques, and many nightlife venues. T+L readers complimented the hotel’s ‘beautiful rooms,’ ‘great location,’ and service,” the publication says.

Photo by RoschetzkyIstockPhoto/Getty Images

Austin-area lake town splashes onto list of best waterways in the U.S.

Lake-way to go

As temperatures start to sizzle, Austinites know the best way to beat the heat — besides margaritas, of course. In Austin, we are blessed with all kinds of lakes, rivers, and waterways, but one Austin-area locale is the best lake town of them all, according to a new report by Boatline.com.

The study puts Lakeway at No. 8 among the best lake towns in the U.S. Boatline praises the town as a "laid-back destination located on the southern shores of Texas' Lake Travis."

The report goes on to say that while the city started as a community for second-home owners and retirees, "Lakeway is now home to full-time residents of all ages that are drawn to the lake lifestyle. You'll often find locals, as well as weekenders from nearby Austin and farther, taking in the panoramic views of Lake Travis from a pontoon or speedboat."

No. 8 is a commendable place to land on a list that only includes 17 cities, especially as the only Texas destination on the list. Bigfork, Montana, claimed the No. 1 spot. It's situated on the picturesque Flathead Lake and home to year-round activities including whitewater rafting in the spring, summer boating, fly fishing in the fall, and ice fishing in winter.

Other lake towns ranking above Lakeway all hail from northern neighbors like Vermont (Burlington, No. 2); Washington (Chelan, No. 3); Colorado (Grand Lake, No. 4); and Minnesota (Grand Marais, No. 5) — which is hardly fair when all five boast wildly better temps than our Texan counterparts. Only Georgia (Greensboro, No. 6) and Arkansa (Hot Springs, No. 7) share even close to the same latitude as any Texan candidates.

On the positive side, Lakeway beats several towns in Wisconsin (Lake Geneva, No. 9); New York, (Lake George, No. 10); Michigan (Traverse City, No. 15); and New Hampshire (Wolfeboro, No. 17). Head to boatline.com for the full list. Or better yet, head out to Lakeway to enjoy that top 10 ranking for yourself.

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CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Google soars to No. 3 in prestigious list of Forbes' best employers in Texas, plus more top stories

Hot Headlines

Editor’s note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. From employers to non-hierarchical art, here are five articles that captured our collective attention over the past seven days.

1. Google soars to No. 3 in prestigious list of Forbes' best employers in Texas. Austin continues to hosts the best of the best employers in Texas, as Google and Apple move into coveted spots on Forbes' list.

2. Country icon Willie Nelson returns to traditional 'hillbilly' inspiration in new album. Nelson's new LP, Bluegrass, is his first album-length tribute to the traditional country genre.

3. Austin art collectives bring work made by 1,000 local hands to Burning Man. 500 Austinites helped dye and tie scraps of fabric in a flowing mosaic that became an unmissable part of the Playa.

4. More closed home sales in Austin show growing homebuyer confidence. The latest data showed the first increase in closed home sales year-over-year since February 2022.

5. Famous Austin furniture store Louis Shanks shutters last remaining locations. The furniture retailer first opened in 1945, and had been operated by the Shanks family for four generations.

Here are all 22 Austin acts to add to your 2023 ACL Fest playlist

homegrown sounds

We're almost there. Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Fest) is poised to take over Zilker Park across two weekends – October 6-8 and October 13-15 – and while Austinites surely have a running list of all the bigger touring acts that they want to see, they may not be aware of the many great locals on the lineup.

So, here’s a rundown of the 22 Austin-based artists that will be playing during either weekend. Take a look, make some notes, and go show some support! Don't forget to hydrate and get a snack between sets, too!

Asleep At The Wheel (W1)
Kick off weekend one of ACL with a fest tradition: a set from country legends Asleep At TheWheel, who have performed at just about every ACL since the festival’s inception in 2002. They’ll play on Friday, October 6, at 12:55 pm on the Honda Stage.

Die Spitz (W1)
With a raucous live show and their well-received 2023 EP, Teeth, Die Spitz have been one of the most buzzed-about bands out of Austin this year. You can catch the upstart rockers on Saturday, October 7, at 11:45 am on the Tito’s Stage.

Arya (W1)
Pop and R&B fans will find a lot to like when it comes to Arya, an up-and-coming songstress who now calls Austin home after having grown up in Serbia. Her set will take place on Saturday, October 7, at 11:45 am on the T-Mobile Stage.

Shooks (W1)
Fronted by Marlon Sexton (the son of guitarist Charlie Sexton), Shooks will be taking the stage at ACL for the second time since 2021. The band’s versatile indie rock sound can be experienced on Saturday, October 7, at 12:45 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

Calder Allen (W1&2)
Since last year’s release of his debut album, The Game, singer-songwriter Calder Allen has been on a steady ascent through the ranks of local acts. You can see him at both weekends of the fest – for each one he’ll play on Saturday (October 7 & 14) at 2:45 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

Ben Kweller (W1&2)
Celebrated indie rocker Ben Kweller has spent a good bit of the summer on the road with Ed Sheeran, and that will roll into appearances at both weekends of ACL. Look for him on each Saturday (October 7 & 14) at 3 pm on the Miller Lite Stage.

Ellis Bullard (W1)
Get a “true-blue honky tonk” experience via Ellis Bullard, who will be making his ACL debut justas he’s gearing up to release a new album, Honky Tonk Ain’t Noise Pollution!. You can see himon Sunday, October 8, at noon on the Barton Springs Stage.

Wesley Bray And The Disciples of Christ (W1)
Take a break from the noise of ACL and enjoy a spiritual moment with Stubb’s Gospel Brunch regulars Wesley Bray And The Disciples of Christ. They can be experienced on – of course – Sunday, October 8, at noon on the Tito’s stage.

Jane Leo (W1)
Centered around Jane Ellen Bryant and Daniel Leopold (of Leopold And His Fiction), Jane Leo are responsible for some of the catchiest alt-pop tunes you’ll find in Austin these days. Their ACL set is on Sunday, October 8, at 1 pm, on the Tito’s Stage.

Grace Sorensen (W1)
R&B/neo-soul artist Grace Sorenson has previously been a part of ACL as support for other acts, but she’ll make her full debut at the festival during Weekend One. Her performance will happen on Sunday, October 8, at 1:30 pm on the BMI Stage.

Jimmie Vaughan (W2)
Weekend two of ACL will get underway with a performance from guitar afficionado Jimmie Vaughn. Don’t miss his blues-filled performance on Friday, October 13, at 12:55 pm on the Honda Stage.

Font (W2)
Just after wrapping a supporting run with the popular Japanese band CHAI, Font will play their first ever ACL Fest. The post-punk act puts on a dynamic show and shouldn’t be missed on Friday, October 13, at 12:55 pm on the American Express Stage.

Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective (W2)
If the Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective isn’t on your radar, they should be, as they will be putting out some of the smoothest sounds you’ll find at the fest this year. Catch the urban contemporary jazz ensemble’s set on Friday, October 13, at 1:15 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

We Don’t Ride Llamas (W2)
From a love of the game Rock Band as kids to playing ACL, it’s been a heck of a ride so far for the four siblings behind We Don’t Ride Llamas. If you like bands that offer a little bit of everything sound-wise, then don’t miss their set on Friday, October 13, at 1:40 pm on the Miller Lite Stage.

Nemegata (W2)
Nemegata will be heading into ACL hot on the heels of their sophomore album, Voces, which the band describes as a “transcendent Afro-Indigenous Colombian odyssey.” You can see them on Saturday, October 14, at noon on the Barton Springs Stage.

Rattlesnake Milk (W2)
Country, punk, rock — Rattlesnake Milk is every bit of that and very much worthy of a slot on your “bands to see” list. Their set will go down on Saturday, October 14, at 1:15 pm on the BMI Stage.

Blakchyl (W2)
Just a week before she takes the stage at ACL, hip hop vet Blakchyl will release an anticipated album titled Better Than I Imagined. Hear tracks from it and more on Saturday, October 14, at11:45 am on the Tito’s Stage.

The Moriah Sisters (W2)
If you miss out on Wesley Bray And The Disciples of Christ during weekend one of ACL, you can still get your gospel fix in the next go-round with The Moriah Sisters. Their performance will take place on Sunday, October 15, at noon on the Tito’s Stage.

Kathryn Legendre (W2)
With “Cigarettes,” her brand new single in tow, “singer-songwriter, honky-tonker, and Hill Country gem” Kathryn Legendre will make her ACL debut. You can see her sure-to-be-charming set on Sunday, October 15, at noon on the Baron Springs Stage.

Sisi(W2)
After years in Torino Black, Sisi has begun rolling out solo tunes, including a recent one titled “Lyin’ Cheat.” You can check out the singer-songwriter on Sunday, October 15, at 1 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

Quin NFN(W2)
The oft-buzzed-about rapper Quin NFN will swing into ACL Fest more than ready to show why he’s racked up of millions of streams and a dedicated following. Be sure to catch the spectacle on Sunday, October 15, at 2 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

Caramelo Haze (W2)
Beto Martínez & John Speice (Grupo Fantasma), Alex Chavez (Dos Santos), and Victor "El Guámbito" Cruz (Nemegata) are the minds behind the “electro neo-sōl odyssey” known as Carmelo Haze. They’ll be playing on Sunday, October 15, at 2 pm on the Tito’s Stage.

Austin 'Top Chef' winner emerges after controversy to open upscale Mexican restaurant

New Restaurants

Austin and the village of Bacalar in Southeastern Mexico share a similar ethos — that life revolves around the lake. Overlooking Town Lake, the new upscale Mexican restaurant Bacalar brings the tastes of one famous lake to another, with chef Gabe Erales at the helm.

The restaurant has opened at 44 East Ave. #100, after years of preparation and following controversy surrounding the chef's departure from his last role, at Comedor. A walk-up taco window called Tómalo Taquería is planned for the fall.

Food & Drink
Bacalar is all about duality, from the two lakes that inspired and accompany the food to an especially close collaboration between the chef and real estate and design firm Urbanspace on the interiors.

The menu features globally influenced dishes from the Yucatan region, including Castacan Tacos with pork belly; Squash & Chaya Tamal; and a chef's daily steak cut.

The menu balances on the concept of "comida milpera," or food system interdependence between farmers, suppliers, and chefs, according to the restaurant.

Erales explains, "'La milpa' is a twofold, parallel concept — the 'milpa' being essentially a pre-Hispanic farming system, where you planted complementary vegetables and fruit next to each other, and the byproduct of one is the input of another. [It] allowed people throughout Mexico to have a very flourished farming system with not a lot of water or rich soil. But in parallel to that, it was also thought of as a socio-cultural relationship system."

The restaurant hopes to embody that spirit on the menu, which places special emphasis on food and drink pairings. (Surely executive pastry chef Natalie Gazaui also has something up her sleeve, although the desserts were not explained in detail.)

Bar manager Dragan Milivojevic says he designed the cocktail menu to "follow the kitchen," and Erales points out that some hard-to-find flavors from the Yucatán Peninsula go great in drinks — for instance, cooking pastes called "recados." One of Milivojevic's special flavors comes in the form of a house-made Orgeat syrup derived from mamey sapote, a tropical fruit that many say tastes like sweet potato or pumpkin.

One specific restaurant-bar pairing complements fried octopus aguachile with a corn-infused agave spirit martini. In this pairing, the martini stands in for the more common choice of a corn chip. This also creates another outlet for corn use, as Bacalar purchases surplus grains not grown commercially, in order to support the communities keeping those heirloom varieties alive.

Bacalar also plans to offer weekly pairings of different mezcals with dishes from the kitchen. Milivojevic hopes that the bar will one day have the biggest mezcal program in Texas, and will introduce new people to the spirit.

Design
Bacalar's interior design also aims for a careful balance that is neither too rustic nor too modern.

The team at Urbansapce — which manages famous buildings like The Independent, Seaholm Residences, and Brazos Lofts — points out the importance of the ground-floor location for the restaurant, and aligns itself with a longterm push to make downtown a residential destination as well as a business hub.

Urbanspace principal and interior designer for Bacalar, Merrill Alley, who introduced CEO Kevin Burns to Erales for the collaboration, says the team hopes the restaurant will be an amenity for people living in the residential spaces above at 44 East Ave (both the building's name and address).

Context
Bacalar has been a long time coming for the chef-owner. Erales, who won Top Chef in July 2021, saw his celebration cut short by a very public break with Comedor. His official statement from July of 2021 summarized the situation as follows:

"I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Top Chef; however, I must continue to acknowledge my mistakes including the termination from my former job. To clarify, unbeknownst to my wife, I had a consensual relationship with a co-worker and later reduced her work hours, which in combination was a poor judgment call and led to my termination after I filmed Top Chef. ... My personal growth will be a perpetual apology in seeking forgiveness."

A statement by chef Philip Speer, who still helms Comdedor, echoes the story with the addition that the termination came from “repeated violations of our policies and for behavior in conflict with our values.”

Erales had announced his plans for Bacalar after departing Comedor, but before his Top Chef win, which brought major attention to past events.

He declined to comment further for CultureMap.

Bacalar is now open 5-10 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 5-11 pm Thursday-Saturday, and weekend brunch is coming soon, according to the website.