Two Dallas Chefs Competing For Food & Wine's People's Choice Best New Chef Award

The word is officially out. Two Dallas chefs have been nominated for Food & Wine's People's Best New Chef, Southwest division. These are "up-and-coming" chefs -- even if you feel like you've been hearing their names forever -- as one of the qualifiers is they must have commanded their own kitchen for less than five years.

Our Dallas reps? Top Chef alum Tre Wilcox of Marquee Grill and Tim Byres of Smoke. Their success (against other recognizable chefs, namely the newly crowned Top Chef Paul Qui of Uchiko in Austin) depends on your votes between today, March 5, and March 11. So, we'll be doing the fair thing: flipping a quarter... Look, just vote, OK?

Wilcox's and Byres' bios, as well as all other chefs, are available here, just in case you want to peruse their "must-try" dishes (venture guess whose is the hand-pulled hog and whose is the spice-rubbed chicken thigh) or specific reasons why each is amazing before you click a name. According to Food & Wine, Byres " goes beyond just barbecue," while Wilcox cooks "brilliant high-low Texas food." Congratulations to both chefs!

· Food & Wine's People's Best New Chef, Southwest Division [Food & Wine]
· Marquee Grill [Official]
· Smoke [Official]