National spotlight

One Dallas eatery makes the list of Esquire best new restaurants

Fried chicken at Roots Southern Table.

Photo courtesy of Roots Southern Table

Four Texas restaurants are basking in the national spotlight: They've been named by Esquire magazine on its list of America's 40 best new restaurants.

No. 1 on the list was Dhamaka, an Indian restaurant in New York. Two Texas restaurants made the top 10.

The four Texas establishments that make the list include a critical favorite from Dallas, plus two restaurants from Houston and one from Austin, as follows:

Roots Southern Table: Top Chef alum Tiffany Derry's restaurant devoted to Black Southern cooking in Dallas (19th)
Hestia: chef Kevin Fink's live fire restaurant in Austin (fourth)
March: a Mediterranean-inspired tasting menu restaurant in Houston (sixth)
Degust: a Spanish and Mexican-inspired tasting menu restaurant in Houston (17th)

The list was authored by four writers — Omar Mamoon, Joshua David Stein, former Esquire food and drink editor Jeff Gordinier, and culture and lifestyle director Kevin Sintumuang — who traveled the country in search of candidates.

Texas was covered by Stein, a Brooklyn-based writer and former critic for the New York Observer and the Village Voice.

At Tiffany Derry's restaurant, he praises the fried chicken, brined and fried in duck fat, and her unique version of shrimp & grits, which he compares to an Italian-style arancini.

"Roots is plangent proof that Black Southern cooking from the Creole coast, incorporating as it does elements of French, Spanish, African, and Caribbean traditions, alchemizing as it does migrations forced and otherwise, is both the country's greatest culinary patrimony and its path ahead," he writes.

Roots is definitely catching the New York media's eye; the restaurant was just included on the New York Times' "50 most vibrant and delicious restaurants in 2021."

Both of Houston's representatives on the list represent a new breed of tasting menu restaurant. Stein hails March for its menus that take inspiration from different regions of the Mediterranean. "March, as the name implies, is a steady movement toward the avant-garde," he states.

He finds similar thrills at Degust, where two chefs put a playful spin on Spanish and Mexican-inspired dishes like double-fried octopus.

Austin restaurant Hestia, which came in at No. 4, earns praises for its 20-foot, wood-fired hearth where temperatures can reach 1,200 degrees. "Hard to believe that the same fire that tenderly cooks the halibut — kept three feet above the flame and served with an iridescent mirror glaze of a brown-butter sauce — is responsible for the ferocious char on the dry-aged Wagyu bavette, with its sunset-red center, accompanied by lacquered layers of potato and butter coiled into a tight, croissant-like bun," Stein writes.

lists awards

Hugs all around

Nonprofit Hugs Café expands with $10M McKinney headquarters and eatery

Photo courtesy of Hugs Cafe

Hugs Cafe has debuted a new cafe in its new McKinney headquarters.

A culinary-centric charity that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities build careers in hospitality has a snazzy new home in downtown McKinney: Hugs Café Inc. has opened a new $10 million headquarters, eatery, and training center at 221 Andrews St., McKinney.

The 13,500-square-foot facility brings together the organization's administrative offices and Hugs Training Academy under one roof, a release says, creating what it calls a centralized hub to expand workforce training and employment opportunities.

“This new space allows us to grow our programs and serve more individuals than ever before,” says Lauren Smith, CEO at Hugs Café Inc, in the release. “It represents a major step forward in our mission to create meaningful training and employment opportunities. We are deeply grateful for the community support and partnerships that have helped bring this vision to life and continue to make our work possible every day.”

The new HQ is called Home for Hugs.Photo courtesy of Hugs Cafe

Called the Home for Hugs, the building includes a commercial training kitchen, four classrooms, administrative offices, flexible workspaces, a rooftop deck, and an outdoor patio. The facility is designed to increase the organization's training capacity while supporting future expansion of its programs, leadership says.

Hugs Café Inc. is a McKinney-based nonprofit social enterprise that provides hospitality training and competitively paid employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its flagship venture is Hugs Café, which offers on-the-job experience in an inclusive restaurant environment.

Dining at Hugs Cafe
Founded in 2015 by Ruth Thompson, the organization has grown from a single McKinney café into a network that now includes two café locations (the other's at 2918 Live Oak St. in Dallas), along with two Hugs Training Academies, the new headquarters, and affiliate partners across the country.

The McKinney cafe is open to customers for dine-in and delivery at breakfast and lunch, 8 am-3 pm Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday), with catering available. The menu includes breakfast items such as biscuit sandwiches and breakfast burritos; salads, sandwiches, soups, and desserts.

Sweet treats from Hugs Cafe. Photo courtesy of Hugs Cafe

Sandwiches include grilled cheese, a Monte Cristo, a BLTA with avocado, and a "chickie hug" sandwich with cranberry pecan chicken salad and mixed greens.

Salads include a Greek salad, spinach salad, and a chef's salad with turkey and bacon. Desserts include cookies, carrot cake, and chocolate bourbon pecan pie.

Catering choices vary from sandwich boxed lunches to whole cakes and jumbo quantities of pimento cheese or chicken salad. White Rhino coffee in large quantities is offered, as well.

Building a lasting impact
Construction on the headquarters began in May 2025. Dallas developer KDC led the project, with Corgan serving as architect, Brasfield & Gorrie as general contractor, and Valliance Bank providing financing, according to the release.

“Bringing this vision to life alongside Hugs Café Inc. is a meaningful opportunity for KDC to support individuals seeking personalized training and a pathway into the workforce,” says Eric Hage, KDC president. “We’re grateful to the Hugs Café team and our fellow donors for allowing us to play a role in creating lasting impact for these individuals and their families.”

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