Awards News

Dallas restaurants see some surprise nominees in 2020 James Beard Awards

Oak Cliff restaurant Salaryman earns a big accolade.

Photo by Elliot Munoz

Dallas' restaurant scene received some nice surprises via the James Beard Awards, which just released its list of semifinalists for 2020. Considered to be the Oscars of the food world, the awards are presented annually to chefs, bartenders, restaurateurs, authors, and more.

Dallas chefs and restaurants earned a total of nine nominations. That's up from last year, when the city logged six.

Exciting newbies include:

Clyde Greenhouse, Kessler Baking Studio for Outstanding Baker
Salaryman, the Oak Cliff restaurant, which was nominated for Best New Restaurant

Both of those nominations are national nods.

Returning Dallas nominees include Maggie Huff (Homewood in Dallas) and Ricardo "Ricchi" Sanchez (Bullion in Dallas), both semifinalists in the category of Best Pastry Chef.

Four Dallas chefs were nominated for the regional contest of Best Chef in Texas: Misti Norris (Petra and the Beast), Regino Rojas (Revolver Taco Lounge), Teiichi Sakurai (Tei-An), and Donny Sirisavath (Khao Noodle Shop).

Fort Worth chef Molly McCook (Ellerbe Fine Foods in Fort Worth) was also nominated for Best Chef in Texas.

Overall, Texas bars and restaurants earned nominations in a number of national categories, including Larry McGuire of Austin's McGuire Moorman Hospitality for Outstanding Restaurateur; Kim McPherson (McPherson Cellars in Lubbock) for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer; and Bria Downey (Clay Pigeon Food & Drink in Fort Worth) for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

The state already has one Beard Award winner. Last week, the Foundation recognized Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que in Brownsville as one of six “America’s Classics.” The category recognizes establishments, typically family-owned, that are “cherished for their quality food, local character, and lasting appeal.” Previous Texas winners include Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor), The Original Sonny Bryan’s (Dallas), and Irma’s (Houston).

This year will be the first time under the James Beard Foundation’s new rules that increased its chef awards from 10 regions to 12. Those changes included making Texas its own region for the best chef awards; previously, the Lone Star State had been lumped into the Southwest with Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah.

These changes ensure that at least one Texas chef will win a James Beard Award every year going forward. Last year, no one from Texas won an award. Since 2010, six Texas chefs won the Southwest category, split evenly between Houston and Austin.

Semifinalists are selected by the Foundation’s restaurant and chef awards committee made up of food writers from across the country, including Los Angeles Times critic Bill Addison, Bloomberg food editor Kate Krader, and Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Allison Cook. The finalists for each category will be announced in Philadelphia on March 25.

The Foundation will announce its media award winners in New York on April 24. The chef and restaurant awards will be presented in Chicago on May 4.

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Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

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Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

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