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    Tastemaker Best Chefs

    Tastemaker Best Chef nominees put national spotlight where it belongs: on Dallas

    Teresa Gubbins
    Apr 22, 2014 | 7:09 pm

    In our first-ever CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards, we're celebrating the prodigious talent in our food and drink community. For months, our editors sifted through nominees before narrowing down the field for a panel of experts who chose winners in nine categories. Those winners will be revealed with great fanfare — and many a toast — at our big event on May 6.

    In the past couple of weeks, we've honored the city's top pastry chefs, tipped our hat to the best breweries and lifted our glass to the best bars in town. We even launched a tournament so our readers could help choose the best new restaurant. But perhaps no category is more meaningful than that of best chef.

    Unlike the rising stars who are just beginning to make their mark, these candidates are the culinary masters of our city. They've made significant contributions to our local dining scene while staying at the top of their field. They've brought us not only fantastic food but also glory, bragging rights and a sense of hometown pride.

    These legendary chefs all have accolades and four-star ratings that would fill a page. Instead of listing their awards and achievements, we'll share a few highlights, including their game-changing moments, signature dishes and what makes them special.

    In alphabetical order, we present our candidates for the Tastemaker Award for Best Chef:

    Nick Badovinus, Neighborhood Services, Off-Site Kitchen
    Game changer: Badovinus left the friendly confines of Consilient and showed his mettle with his successful Neighborhood Services.
    Signature dish: Veal schnitzel
    What's new: Openings everywhere — a third Neighborhood Services in Addison, an Off-Site Kitchen in Trinity Groves and a new concept called Town Hearth opening in the Design District.
    In a nutshell: Nimble and intuitive, Badovinus is a chef with classic roots who's plugged in to restless contemporary diners.

    Dean Fearing, Fearing's
    Game changer: Leaving the Mansion to open Fearing's in 2007 proved that Dean didn't need the Mansion to be Dean.
    Signature dish: Lobster taco
    What's new: A cookbook called The Texas Food Bible (Grand Central Publishing), coming out on April 29.
    In a nutshell: Intensely charismatic, accessible yet larger-than-life, with a faultless palate, Fearing is a Dallas treasure.

    Tim Love, Lonesome Dove, Woodshed Smokehouse, Queenie's Steakhouse, Love Shack, Barter
    Game changer: Love's kitchen skills are matched by his ability to spot trends before they happen.
    Signature dish: Tomahawk chop
    What's new: A TV favorite, his latest show is Esquire Network's Knife Fight.
    In a nutshell: Perhaps no chef has a stronger combination of creativity and drive than Love.

    Matt McCallister, FT33
    Game changer: McCallister's meteoric rise through the ranks at Stephan Pyles led to the opening of his own Design District restaurant.
    Signature dish: Smoked potatoes with maitake mushrooms and spicy mayo
    What's new: A spot on the list of Food & Wine's 2014 best new chefs.
    In a nutshell: McCallister has a preternaturally canny finger on foodie trends.

    Kent Rathbun, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen
    Game changer: Rathbun opened Abacus in 1999 and thus began a chef-driven mini restaurant empire.
    Signature dish: Lobster shooters
    What's new: A dramatic refresh of the menu at Jasper's, Rathbun's ode to backyard cuisine.
    In a nutshell: Rathbun handily balances the craft of the chef with a business sense.

    Raul Reyes, Mesa
    Game changer: Reyes transformed his modest La Palapa Veracruzana in Oak Cliff into the fine-dining restaurant that is Mesa.
    Signature dish: Enmoladas with mole sauce
    What's new: Expansion to Bishop Arts with a seafood restaurant called Ceviche.
    In a nutshell: Reyes is our best and most genuine example of the ability to elevate Mexican food into serious cuisine.

    Stephan Pyles, Stephan Pyles, Stampede 66, San Salvaje
    Game changer: Pyles presciently saw the potential of Dallas' Arts District when he opened his eponymous restaurant in 2005.
    Signature dish: Cowboy rib-eye with onion rings
    What's new: Pan-Latin restaurant San Salvaje will soon open in the old Samar spot.
    In a nutshell: A master of reinvention, Pyles perseveres by finding new ways to capitalize on his well-established classics.

    Teiichi Sakurai, Tei An
    Game changer: Sakurai's precision has made Tei An and the otherwise-moribund One Arts Plaza a destination.
    Signature dish: Soba sampler
    What's new: Impromptu Sunday-morning ramen parties that are hugely popular.
    In a nutshell: Sakurai's mastery of soba noodles and live seafood puts Tei An in an elite league whose peers are mostly in Japan.

    John Tesar, Spoon, Knife
    Game changer: Tesar has championed underdog cuisines, from burgers at The Commissary to seafood at Spoon, at exactly the right time and place.
    Signature dish: C-vap burger
    What's new: A steakhouse, called Knife, opening at Hotel Palomar.
    In a nutshell: Colorful and mercurial, Tesar gives us impeccable food with plenty of sparks.

    David Uygur, Lucia
    Game changer: Uygur's unexpected embrace/interpretation of Italian food brought national attention to Lucia and gave Bishop Arts a chef-driven spot.
    Signature dish: Charcuterie with nduja crostini
    What's new: Ever-longer waits for a reservation, even years after opening.
    In a nutshell: Stoic Uygur is nothing less than an artist, making robust pleasures on the plate.

    ---

    Come celebrate the Tastemakers with us on Tuesday, May 6, at Seven for Parties in the Dallas Design District. To learn more about the event, including information about our beneficiaries, judges, participating restaurants and ticket sales, visit our Tastemakers website.

    Nick Badovinus

    Chef Nick Badovinus
      
    Photo by Kevin Marple
    Nick Badovinus
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    Chef and caterer opens Southern to-go cafe south of Dallas

    Raven Jordan
    Jun 11, 2025 | 6:47 pm
    Cedric Frazier
    Cedric Frazier
    Cedric Frazier Experience Fruity Pebbles chicken & waffles.

    A chef and caterer has opened an eponymous to-go cafe south of Dallas: Called The Cedric Frazier Experience, it’s an upscale soul food kitchen located at 103 Waller St., in Red Oak, where it opened on June 7.

    The Cedric Frazier Experience is from chef and caterer Cedric Frazier, a graduate of Johson & Wales University with 30 years of culinary experience cooking and catering, serving celebrities as well as political figures. For a few years, he worked as a traveling private chef and boutique caterer, and still does a brisk catering business for birthday parties, celebrations, and the like. He also owns Luxuria, an event venue in DeSoto he opened in 2024.

    The Experience is mainly a to-go restaurant, but it does have limited seating for diners looking for a quick bite or hosting small events. For those looking to drop by and pick up a meal, the kitchen is open Thursday-Sunday with lunch and dinner options.

    "It will serve as a full-service catering kitchen, as well as a boutique cafe that offers to-go and limited dine-in options," Frazier says. "While the catering side is by appointment or event-based booking, the café will be open to the public during specific hours. No reservations needed."

    Dishes are Southern-inspired "low country" — what Frazier refers to as “elevated comfort food": fried fish, wings, pasta, and salads. On Sundays, he does a special menu with homey meals featuring baked turkey wings, fried chicken, or oxtails, and sides of candied yams, collard greens, and cornbread.

    The Cedric Frazier Experience kitchen is an extension of what Frazier was doing as a traveling chef across Texas. Red Oak seemed fitting because it’s a growing community that needed elevated, chef-driven fare while also being “accessible.”

    “Launching my own brand allowed me to bring all of my experience together — pairing high-level service with heartfelt, soulful cuisine,” Frazier says. “Every plate I create carries pieces of my heritage, my training, and my passion for connecting with people through food.”

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