Toasting the Tastemakers

Dallas' best restaurants and chefs crowned at 2024 Tastemaker Awards

After months of buildup, the best restaurants, chefs, bars, and more culinary superstars were revealed and celebrated at our 2024 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards.

On May 16, the winners were crowned at an awards ceremony and tasting event at Fashion Industry Gallery, with proceeds benefiting Harvest Project Food Rescue.

As a leadup to the big event, we dedicated a special editorial series to highlighting nominees in 10 categories, including best restaurants, chefs, bars, bartenders, and more. New this year was the wildcard category of best patio. A panel of expert judges helped select all of the winners, except for Best New Restaurant. That was determined by you, our readers, in a bracket-style tournament.

Now, without further delay, let's raise a glass to the 2024 Tastemaker Award winners:

Courtesy photo

Petra and the Beast is Restaurant of the Year.

Rising Star Chef of the Year: Will Salisbury, Carbone
Salisbury is a New England native whose life and culinary travels have taken him from Nantucket to Europe to New Orleans, where he worked with famed chef John Besh. He came to Dallas to join Bruno Davaillon at Bullion, then joined Major Food Group in fall 2021 as chef de cuisine at Carbone, their grandly mounted Italian restaurant in the Design District. Their cuisine resonates deeply for Salisbury, whose heritage is Italian-American.

Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Terilli's
Founder Jeannie Terilli opened her namesake restaurant on Greenville Avenue in 1985 with the idea of it being a fun Italian spot, and that spirit has prevailed, making the restaurant a revered mainstay in Dallas. The signature dish says it all: a pizza version of nachos called "Italchos." Now owned and operated by Jeannie Terilli, Joey Terilli, and Amanda Terilli Loyd, Terilli's remains a breezy hangout for neighbors and a perennial destination for old-timers.

Bar of the Year: Whiskeys
This in-the-know gem just outside Fair Park is a favorite of service-industry folk and insiders. True to its name, the bar offers hundreds of top-shelf whiskeys and bourbons; if you’re overwhelmed by the options, they offer whiskey flights to get a taste of several. The atmosphere is upscale yet unpretentious, fostering a sultry atmosphere with dark decor and soulful music.

Bartender of the Year: Fernanda Rossano, Kaiyo
Rossano, aka "Cubby," has been a mainstay on the Dallas bar scene for almost two decades. Her resume seems endless. She was part of the original team at Sfuzzi, worked at Alamo Club, Tipsy Alchemist, Nickel City, and many others. She is currently behind the bar and running the cocktail program at Kaiyo. Cubby is so funny and unassuming, you can almost forget just how much she knows about spirits and cocktails. But don’t let her self-deprecating humor fool you: Cubby is the real deal.

Wine Program of the Year: Sister
As part of Duro Hospitality (The Charles, El Carlos), it's a given that this Italian-inspired trattoria on Greenville Avenue is going to have exemplary food, service, atmosphere — and wine. The list is compact, but every bottle counts, with hard-to-come-by treasures, most from Italy, one or two from California, that they weave in and out. It would be silly to go to Sister and not eat, but the wine is really good enough to just go and drink. (Note: This category was presented by our wine sponsor, Rias Baixas)

Pastry Chef of the Year: Tida Pichakron, Haute Sweets Patisserie
Pichakron started out in the corporate world, then trained at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. She worked at acclaimed spots like the French Room at The Adolphus before taking the entrepreneurial route with Haute Sweets Patisserie, her acclaimed bakery with two locations: East Dallas and Hillcrest Village in North Dallas. She's competed in national baking events with frequent TV appearances, and is a returning nominee, having been nominated for Tastemaker Awards in 2016 and 2017.

Best Patio: Taco Y Vino
Bishop Arts taqueria and wine bar is beloved both to its Oak Cliff neighbors as well as local foodies and fans of hospitable founder Jimmy Contreras. His experience as a wine rep not only inspired him to do a place combining tacos with wine, but also to create a notable wine list that makes it an oenophile destination. It's set in a cute white house with a spacious patio and backyard area with shady umbrellas and hanging twinkling lights: comfy, casual, and colorful.

Best New Restaurant: McRae's American Bistro.
The casual bistro from restaurateur Mike McRae (Table 13, Stan's Blue Note) is a godsend for East Dallas with craft cocktails and an eclectic menu: deviled eggs, lemon caper chicken, and a buzzy new brunch.

Chef of the Year: Noah Hester, Hamm's Meat & Market
Hester earned fame for his appearance on E! Entertainment's The Bradshaw Bunch, following the adventures of former quarterback Terry Bradshaw and his family; Hester's wife Lacey is Bradshaw's daughter. But the Texas chef has earned his own set of accolades for his culinary skills. He and Lacey own the historic Hamm’s Meat + Market where, along with the butcher operation, they are turning out gourmet sandwiches and hosting amazing chef dinners.

Restaurant of the Year: Petra and the Beast
Dallas' most highly rated restaurant is a highly personal project starring acclaimed chef Misti Norris that earns awards left and right, including multiple Tastemaker Award nominations. Norris is known for her enlightened take on cooking, using the whole animal, pickling, and uber-crafted dishes. It made a big jump in 2023 when it left its cute-funky location at 601 N. Haskell Ave. and moved to Lakewood into a space that's refined and notably not too loud.

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There Goes the Biscuits

Mom-and-pop restaurant chain Biscuit Bar closes all Dallas locations

Photo courtesy of Biscuit Bar

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A Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant chain dedicated to biscuits is shutting down: The Biscuit Bar, a chain with six locations including five in the Dallas area, is closing them all. According to the owners, the closures are effective immediately.

Owners Jake and Janie Burkett say they were poised to sell off the chain to keep it afloat, but the sale fell through at the last minute.

The chain has five locations in the DFW area and one in Abilene. All locations are closed including these five in DFW:

Deep Ellum, at The Epic, the mixed-use project at 2550 Pacific Ave.
Plano, at The Boardwalk in Granite Park, at 5880 TX-121 #102B
Arlington, at Champions Park, at 1707 N. Collins St.
Fort Worth Stockyards, at Mule Alley, at 122 E. Exchange Ave.
Coppell, at 104 S Denton Tap Rd. #102

The couple blamed a variety of factors, including "rising costs, supply chain instability, and a commercial environment increasingly shaped by large institutional interests" which "created pressures no small business was prepared to endure."

The concept made its debut in April 2018 at The Boardwalk in Granite Park in Plano, before expanding in 2019 with a bang, targeting five locations all at once — a bold move for a new concept, especially one dedicated entirely to one food group. (They also opened a short-lived location on Hillcrest near SMU which is now home to D.L. Mack's.)

They were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, offering biscuits, tots, and beer on tap — very ambitious — with a menu featuring both savory and sweet biscuit sandwiches made in house; tots, which could be customized; plus a bar with cocktails, local beer, cold brew coffee, and kombucha, all offered on tap.

Its most popular menu item, The Hoss, featured Southern fried chicken, bacon, Jack cheese, sausage gravy, and honey butter.

Their post says that by early 2025, they entered Chapter 11 — "not to walk away but to rebuild and secure a future for our employees," they say. "And for a time, it looked like that future was within reach. A respect restaurant group stepped forward, committed to acquiring and growing Biscuit Bar. The sale was structured, terms were agreed upon, and the closing was set for December."

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board.

"While many partners supported a workable plan, several key financial stakeholders did not," their post says. "This included a few landlords whose participation was essential. Their refusal to compromise or support a path forward ultimately made the sale impossible, leaving us with no legal or financil ability continue operating. And so just days before Christmas, we were forced into the most painful decision of our lives."

They've launched a GoFundMe for their employees and are encouraging their fans to contribute.

"If The Biscuit Bar ever served you a meal, became part of your routine, or gave you a place to gather with family and friends, we humbly ask you to consider donating or sharing this campaign," they say.

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