Six Austin restaurants made the semifinalist list for this year’s James Beard Awards, including one for the new category, outstanding professional in beverage service.
The finalists will be announced April 2, and the winners won’t be known until June 16. But that waiting period is a great time to dine out both in Austin and around the state. Texas restaurants, bars and chefs received a total of 41 nods.
Here are the Austin-area semifinalists:
Outstanding Chef: Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Canje
Best New Restaurant: Lao’d Bar
Outstanding Bar: Techo Mezcaleria & Agave Bar
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's
Best Chef: Texas:
- Takéhiro Asazu and Masazumi Saio of Uroko
- Evan LeRoy of LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue
For the full list of semifinalists, check out the James Beard Foundation’s announcement.