Tastemaker Awards

Top 10 chefs in Dallas are creating a dynamic and vibrant dining scene

Chicken with pomegranate seeds at Ame

Photo courtesy of Ame

We're on the final stretch of our 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, honoring the people who make our local restaurant scene soar.

Part of that journey has been our special editorial series in which we elected nominees, whom we'll celebrate at a party on May 4 at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.) with tastings and awards to the winners. Tickets are still on sale.

We've profiled nominees for Restaurant of The Year, Rising Star Chef, Neighborhood Restaurant, Bar, Brewery, Bartender, Best Wine Program, Best Burgers, and Best New Restaurant, decided by a bracket vote that ends on May 2.

Now we have reached the final category: Chef of The Year.

These 10 chefs are the established players, the places that for one reason or another ruled the Dallas scene in 2023.

Here are our nominees for 2023 Chef of The Year:

Aaron Staudenmaier - District
Staudenmaier has 25-plus years experience including The Mansion on Turtle Creek and the Inn at Little Washington. He worked with Kent Rathbun to open Abacus and Jasper's, then worked at Boot Ranch, an ultra-luxury property in Fredericksburg, then Lovers Seafood, and then concept chef at Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar. He was part of the team that brought sophisticated District from California to Dallas, and is also known for his philanthropic gestures including winning a "Pawsitively Good" award from NBCDFW for his volunteer work with Dallas Animal Services, the city's animal shelter.

Afifa Nayeb - Âme
A native of Kabul, Afghanistan, Nayeb and her daughter Sabrina made waves at the Dallas Farmers Market with Laili, a fresh and sophisticated food stand featuring Afghani food, and 8 Cloves, which serves Indian food. The duo took it to the next level with the opening of Âme, their charming and upscale, modern Indian restaurant with new and traditional flavors, in Bishop Arts. Nayeb is a returning nominee who made the top 10 list in 2021.

James Johnson - Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Understated yet conscientious, Johnson has seen the Dallas location of Houston-based Pappas Bros. Steakhouse through countless "Best Steakhouse" awards since he joined the team in 2006. A participant in the 2022 Chefs For Farmers event, this Chicago native previously worked at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Hibiscus, Paris Vendome in the West Village, and American Airlines Center, where he oversaw the opening of their fine-dining Platinum Club.

Jose Luis Rodriguez - Mixtitos Kitchen
After more than 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry including the NL Group and Charlie Palmer's, Rodriguez launched his own concept, first as a ghost kitchen before expanding to a brick-and-mortar storefront in East Dallas where he's become a neighborhood sensation. His menu is a creative and unique blend of Japanese- and Mexican-inspired dishes, with French cooking techniques that's truly one-of-a-kind, executed with quality and care.

Julian Rodarte - Trinity Groves
Rodarte is a whizkid and second-generation chef and restaurateur who has accumulated a wide range of experience, from taquerias to corporate chef at Denny's, as well as working with some of Dallas' biggest names including Dean Fearing and Phil Romano, who in 2016 helped Rodarte open his first restaurant — Beto & Son, at Trinity Groves — when he was only 23. In 2022, Julian was promoted to CEO of Trinity Groves and put in charge of creating new restaurant concepts.

Junior Borges - Meridian
Raised in Rio de Janeiro, Borges graduated from culinary school, then worked in New York's restaurant scene for 13 years before coming to Dallas in 2014 as opening executive chef at Uchi. Other high-profile gigs included Matt McCallister's FT33 and Joule Hotel where he oversaw properties including Mirador, Americano, and CBD Provisions. Meridian, his acclaimed Brazilian fine-dining restaurant at The Village, won CultureMap's Tastemaker Award in 2022 for Best Restaurant of the Year, and Borges also made the top 10 chefs list in 2021.

Michelle Carpenter, Zen Sushi, Restaurant Beatrice
Carpenter began her career in San Diego where she trained under several master "itamaes" to learn the craft of sushi. She worked at Mr. Sushi in Addison, then Yamaguchi's, the pre-eminent sushi bar at its time, where she was promoted to executive chef under Master Itamae Yama-San. She opened Zen Sushi in 2007, joining the Bishop Arts neighborhood well before it became the hipster zone it is today. In 2022, she opened Restaurant Beatrice, which she calls the new face of contemporary Cajun cuisine. She's a returning nominee who made the top 10 list in 2022.

Nikky Phinyawatana - Asian Mint
A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Nikky emigrated to Dallas where she attended Hockaday, got her Bachelors in business, then went to El Centro College Culinary School. She opened the first Asian Mint in 2004, and currently has four locations in the DFW area. She's an innovator who embraces new ways of communicating, most recently launching an educational video series in which she explains ingredients (such as the difference between red and green Thai chiles) and demonstrates recipes. She's a returning nominee who made the top 10 list in 2021.

Reyna Duong - Sandwich Hag
Passionate about sharing the joys of authentic Vietnamese cuisine, Duong left her corporate job to open Sandwich Hag, featuring tautly wrapped spring rolls, banh mi with house-made pork sausage, and curry with chicken thigh. In addition to taking no shortcuts on her food, part of her policy is hiring workers with Down syndrome including her brother Sang. A returning nominee who made the top 10 list for Rising Star Chef in 2019 and Best Chef in 2020, she's also a finalist this year for Best Chef: Texas in the James Beard Foundation's annual Restaurant and Chef Awards.

Ross Demers - Cry Wolf
It's a magical time for chef Ross Demers, who has found his perfect niche at Cry Wolf, his cozy, chef-driven spot in East Dallas. Previously, he studied at the California School of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles then bounced around for more than a decade, as chefs do, at a wide range of restaurants: from The Commissary in the Arts District to Oak in the Design District to Local Traveler in East Dallas to On the Lamb, his brasserie in Deep Ellum known for its intense charcuterie that was a run-up to this acclaimed foodie haunt.

awards bests tastemakers chefs

Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days. and are made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegrable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability