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6 D-FW chefs and restaurants named James Beard award finalists in 2023

Don Artemio and Restaurant Beatrice are nominees for Best New Restaurant in the country.

The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for its 2023 Restaurant and Chef awards on March 29, 2023, and D-FW had an impressive showing with two Best New Restaurant nominees, two Outstanding Bakery nominees, one Outstanding Restaurant and one Best Chef: Texas.

It’s the highest number of nominees from North Texas in recent memory, and D-FW representation far exceeded other big Texas food cities like Houston, San Antonio and Austin, which was completely shut out.

During the first round of the annual competition in January, 15 D-FW names made the semifinalist list. Moving on to the next round are:

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Fort Worth contemporary Mexican restaurant Don Artemio and cozy Cajun spot Restaurant Beatrice of Oak Cliff were named finalists for Best New Restaurant in the country. Three of the 10 nominees in this national category are from Texas, including Houston’s Tatemó. Highly-regarded Deep Ellum sushi restaurant Tatsu was a semifinalist in the category, but didn’t make this round.

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In the national category for Outstanding Bakery, D-FW claimed two out of five spots: Richardson’s La Casita Bakeshop and Dallas’ Kuluntu Bakery.

Lucia, the longtime Italian spot in Oak Cliff, was named one of five finalists in the national Outstanding Restaurant category. Acclaimed Dallas chef Junior Borges of Meridian was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, but was not named a finalist in this round.

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Jennifer Uygur, who co-owns Lucia with chef-husband David Uygur, said Wednesday that they are thrilled with the nomination for their 10-plus-year-old restaurant. David Uygur has been a semifinalist five times over the years, and his wife said she has sometimes called him the “Susan Lucci” of the James Beard awards.

“But this nomination is special because it’s recognition for the whole restaurant and not just David. It’s for the whole team,” she said. And many on the team have been with Lucia since the very beginning. “We’re just so lucky we get to do what we do,” Jennifer Uygur adds. “We have great people who have helped us get where we are.”

Chef David Uygur and Jennifer Uygur co-own Lucia restaurant.
Chef David Uygur and Jennifer Uygur co-own Lucia restaurant.(Ben Torres / Special Contributor)
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For Best Chef: Texas, a new category unveiled in 2022, eight D-FW chefs from five different restaurants including Goldee’s Barbecue, Molino Olōyō, José and Revolver Taco Lounge made the semifinalist list. In this round, only chef Reyna Duong of Sandwich Hag was named a finalist. The four other finalists were from Houston, San Antonio, Seguin and El Paso.

There were no Texas mentions in categories for Outstanding Hospitality, Emerging Chef, Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Chef or Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

There were no D-FW mentions for the national category of Outstanding Wine and Beverage Program, but Nancy’s Hustle from Houston made the list. For Outstanding Bar, Las Ramblas in Brownsville was the only Texas spot named.

Find the full list of this year’s nominees at jamesbeard.org.

In 2022, chef Tiffany Derry and her Farmers Branch restaurant, Roots Southern Kitchen, were the sole finalists from North Texas, but no North Texans were named winners in the last round. The final winners for this year will be announced June 5.