Tim Byres' Cookbook Snags a James Beard Nomination

The short list of 2014 James Beard Foundation Award nominees was just revealed via livestream, and as far as Dallas is concerned, there's both good news and bad news.

The great news: Chef Tim Byres snagged a nomination in the Cookbooks: General Cooking category for Smoke: New Firewood Cooking, his manly manual on how to do everything from build a barbacoa pit to pickle just about anything.

The very disappointing news: Chefs John Tesar, David Uygur of Lucia and Matt McCallister of FT33, all of whom were announced as semifinalists in the Best Chef: Southwest category back in February, failed to make the short list of official nominees in the category. (Of the five nominees, Houston snagged three of the spots, Austin one, and the last went to a lone chef from Arizona. Peep the full list here.)

Other semifinalists from DFW that didn't make the final cut include Casa Rubia in the highly competitive category for Best New Restaurant, Abacus and The Mansion for Outstanding Service, and Cafe on the Green for Outstanding Wine Program; of course, it's always an honor to be recognized by the JBF at all, but it sure would be nice to see a Dallas chef repped in the finals for Best Chef Southwest.

· Here are the 2014 James Beard Awards Finalists [JBF]

[Photo: James Beard Foundation/Facebook]