James Beard Awards

Dallas chefs come up short as Houston wins big at James Beard Awards

Maggie Huff's award-winning desserts are worth a visit to Lucia, even if she didn't take home the Beard Award.

Courtesy photo

Two Dallas-area chefs were finalists for 2026 James Beard Awards, but neither took home the coveted medal from the star-studded awards ceremony, held June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

They were:

Maggie Huff, Lucia (Dallas), nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Scott Girling, Osteria il Muro (Denton), nominated for Best Chef: Texas

Eight semifinalist nominations from DFW had been announced in January, but just two had advanced to the finals.

While she didn't win the Beard Award, Huff's Lucia won Dessert Program of the Year in the 2026 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards.The nomination read, "With Maggie Huff, 2026 James Beard finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, at the helm, it’s no surprise Lucia’s dessert program is a standout. The intimate, award-winning Italian eatery in Bishop Arts serves a rotating menu with sweet bites such as semolina cake with roasted grapes, rosemary, honey, and pistachio ice cream. Diners can opt for a tropical escape with coconut sorbet with nectarines and lime and mint pesto. For an earthy experience, there’s the hazelnut frangipane and goat cheese tart with figs and balsamic vinegar ice cream."

Girling, meanwhile, was nominated for Dallas Tastemaker Awards' Rising Star Chef of the Year. His nomination read, "This chef is making waves far beyond the walls of his cozy Italian eatery in Denton. Girling was recently named a 2026 James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Texas. The Culinary School of Fort Worth graduate, who later moved to Italy to immerse himself in the cuisine, has been serving homestyle Italian dishes at the reservation-only restaurant since 2021. He crafts traditional plates such as ricotta gnocchi, fried squash blossoms, and oysters finished tomato mignonette and Thai basil."

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize excellence by chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. In 2025, the James Beard Foundation added three new categories to recognize the beverage side of hospitality: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

Winners must also have “demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” according to the organization’s website.

Osteria il Muro, Denton Agnolotti at Osteria il Muro in Denton, where chef Scott Girling has been named a James Beard Award finalist. Facebook/Osteria il Muro

Houston wins big
Texas was well represented by Houston, which had a historic night at the Awards. Two of Houston’s six finalists took home prizes for both national awards and Best Chef: Texas:

Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres, Maximo
Best Chef Texas: Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, Jūn

Houston’s other finalists were: June Rodil (March) for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service; Ope Amosu (ChòpnBlọk) for Best Chef: Texas; Agnes and Sherman for Best New Restaurant, and Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught (H-Town Restaurant Group) for Outstanding Restaurateur.

Other Texas nominees included: Tavel Bristol-Joseph (Nicosi, San Antonio) for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker and Mixtli in San Antonio for Outstanding Restaurant.

The other nominees for Best Chef: Texas were: Gabe Padilla and Melissa Padilla, (Cafe Piro in Socorro), and Finn Walter (The Nicolett in Lubbock).

James Beard Awards Lindsey Brown Chris Shepherd Southern Smoke Foundation Lindsey Brown, center, and Chris Shepherd, right, at the Impact Awards. Photo by Max Flatow

In addition, the Houston-based Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit that provides emergency assistance and mental health services to hospitality workers, received an Impact Award at a separate ceremony on Sunday, June 14.

Houston's two wins establish the city as a culinary destination. They follow Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast in Spring winning Best Chef: Texas in 2025 and Benchawan Jabthong Painter (Street to Kitchen) winning the same category in 2023, meaning the city’s chefs have now won three of the last four awards in that category. Torres is only the second Houstonian to win a national award, following Southern-inspired cocktail bar Julep’s win for Outstanding Bar Program in 2022.

“I am proud to be the son of immigrants. I am proud to be an immigrant. And I am proud to be a DACA recipient,” Torres, 27, said to applause from the crowd of culinary professionals as he accepted his Beard Award.

“Tonight, the headline is that a brown kid from the Northside, raised by parents who sacrificed everything for the chance at a better life, is standing on this stage accepting one of the highest honors in this industry,” he added.

James Beard Awards Evelyn Garcia Henry Lu Jun Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu won Best Chef: Texas.Photo by Casey Giltner

After establishing themselves by serving casual fare at pop-ups and farmers markets, Garcia and Lu opened Jūn in 2023. Billed as a New Asian American restaurant, it features a wide-ranging menu that includes charred cabbage with tofu Caesar dressing, carrots with everything salsa matcha, and the signature fried chicken that’s seasoned with shrimp paste, ginger, and Thai chili. In 2025, they opened Third Place, a daytime concept in the Jūn space that showcases pop-ups from both established and up-and-coming chefs.

Like Torres, Lu also celebrated his immigrant parents. “I want to thank our immigrant parents who lived the American dream and put us where we are today. They invested so much in us. Everything we are today is because of them,” he said.

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Stephanie Allmon Merry contributed to this story.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun

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