As if we needed further proof of Austin being culinary hotbed, not one, not two, but three Austin Chefs were 2019 James Beard Awards Finalists. This year’s “short list” in the Best Chef: Southwest category included Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine; Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie; and Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye. Fink and Fojtasek’s nominations were their second, while the 2019 list marked the seventh time Gilmore made the list.
Five additional Austin chefs and restaurants made this year’s semifinalist list. In the Best Chef: Southwest Category were longtime chef Iliana de la Vega of Oaxacan and Mexican restaurant El Naranjo and chef Maribel Rivero of Peruvian restaurant Yuyo. The Mexican-inspired restaurant Suerte made the Best New Restaurant category. Launderette’s Laura Sawicki received her fifth semifinalist nomination in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category. And Jester King Brewery’s Jeffrey Stuffings was nominated in the Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Producer category for the second time.
It wasn’t the first time Austin’s chefs had made people sit up and take notice, either: Barbecue’s Aaron Franklin from Franklin’s Barbecue was the first pitmaster to win the Best Chef: Southwest award back in 2015. And in 2011, Tyson Cole of Uchi and Uchiko tied with Las Vegas chef Saipin Chutima for the Southwest medal.