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Here Are the 2020 James Beard Award Semi-Finalists From Dallas

See who’s up for Best New Restaurant, Best Chef: Texas, and more

James Beard Award
A James Beard Award medal
Amy McCarthy is a staff writer at Eater.com, focusing on pop culture, policy and labor, and only the weirdest online trends.

On Wednesday morning, the James Beard Foundation released its annual “long-list” of semi-finalists for the James Beard Awards, the prestigious honors frequently described as “the Oscars of food.”

Unlike in years past, Dallas restaurants made a pretty strong showing in the national categories, where restaurants and hospitality professionals across the country vie for awards like Best New Restaurant and Outstanding Baker. Scope out the full list of semi-finalists from Dallas below in all of the national categories:

  • Best New Restaurant — Salaryman
  • Outstanding Baker — Clyde Greenhouse, Kessler Baking Studio
  • Outstanding Bar Program — Las Almas Rotas
  • Outstanding Pastry Chef — Maggie Huff of Homewood and Ricardo “Ricchi” Sanchez of Bullion
  • Rising Star Chef of the Year — Bria Downey, of Fort Worth’s Clay Pigeon

Dallas also made a strong showing in the brand new Best Chef: Texas category, which includes four nominees from the Big D. Petra and the Beast’s Misti Norris is up for the award, along with perennial Best Chef nominee Teiichi Sakurai of Tei-An, Revolver Taco Lounge’s Regino Rojas, and Donny Sirisavath of Khao Noodle Shop. On the other side of the Metroplex, Fort Worth chef Molly McCook earned a nod for her work at Ellerbe Fine Foods.

On March 25, this list of semi-finalists will be whittled down to five finalists in each category, and we’ll see exactly how Dallas fares then. Considering that the Beards have snubbed the city’s restaurants pretty seriously in past years, here’s hoping that 2020 will bring change.

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards.