Awards season is underway with the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, our annual event honoring the best in Dallas food and drink.

In the coming weeks, we'll spotlight nominees in all categories of food and beverage, culminating in a celebratory party at The Fashion Industry Gallery on May 16.

Nominees and winners are determined by a panel of industry experts, including past winners, in the following categories: Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Bar of the Year, Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year, Bartender of the Year, Best New Restaurant, Rising Star Chef of the Year, Best Wine Program, and Best Patio.

You can see all of the nominees here and learn more about them in a special editorial series, leading up to the big event on May 16, when we’ll unveil the winners, including Best New Restaurant, the only category that gets determined by readers in a bracket-style online tournament.

Tickets for the event are on sale now, with a limited number of Early Bird tickets on sale at discounted rates of $60 for general admission and $99 for VIP (includes early access to the event, valet, and a dedicated bar). Prices increase March 31.

For our first category, we present Rising Star Chefs. These are the up-and-comers, the chefs who are newly established in their own kitchens or restaurants, or who've made local waves for their food.

Meet the nominees for Rising Star Chef of the Year:

Austin Brown, North Italia
Brown earned a degree in culinary arts at Scottsdale Community College, and is a longtime veteran of Fox Restauant Group, the Arizona-based group from restaurateur Sam Fox, having worked at Doughbird, the chicken concept, as well as North Italia, where he's worked at locations in Denver, Dallas, and Plano.

Balpreet Singh Chadha, Sanjh
Chadha, who helms the kitchen at the deluxe Indian restaurant in Irving, has worked at hotels and restaurants in India, United Arab Emirates, and Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain. Fluent in India's many cuisines, he's worked at acclaimed Indian restaurants such as Masala Kraft and Dakshin, and was recognized by Conde Nast Traveler India in their 2023 “40 Under 40: India’s most exciting young chefs” list.

Earnest Morgan, Earnest’s BBQ
Earnest and his wife Cicely owned and operated five barbecue restaurants in Mississippi before coming to Dallas, where they first launched Earnest's as a food truck. In addition to a passion for smoking meats, Morgan has a passion for meeting people. He's a pastor who attended bible college and who "preaches" the gospel of BBQ in how-to classes.

John Pineda, Crown Block
Pineda joined Crown Block, the steak and seafood restaurant in Reunion Tower, as executive chef when it opened in April 2023. Born and raised in Nueva Ecija province in the Philippines, he came to the U.S. at age 15 and moved to Louisiana. His prior experience in Texas food & beverage includes stints with SER Steak & Spirits, Town Hearth Steakhouse, and the acclaimed Launderette in Austin. He's a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, where he earned his associate's degree in culinary arts.

Johney Han, Good Graces
Han is a DFW native who fled the corporate world for food & beverage, attending culinary school in New York, then working with chefs such as David Bouley and Gordon Ramsay, including Maze by Gordon Ramsay inside The London Hotel. He was most recently executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park, then returned to Texas where he still has family, to head up this modern American brasserie at the Marriott Dallas Uptown, where he's focused on seasonality and shared plates.

Lan Nickens, Chamberlain's Steakhouse
Chef Nickens worked his way up through the ranks of kitchens in Texas and Florida, for organizations such as Club Corp. He was in the kitchen at Tramontana, a now-closed bistro in Highland Park, when he was lured away by Chamberlain's Steak & Chop House owners Richard Chamberlain and Jeff Barker. He's worked with chef Chamberlain for 18 years, winning awards from KRLD Restaurant Week and the Dallas Food and Wine Rising Star Chef Event.

Robert Cortez, The Finch
Cortez has worked at a number of acclaimed local spots, many New American with a Southern influence, such as Tillman's Roadhouse, Small Brew Pub, and CBD Provisions, alongside names like Misty Norris, Tony Ibarra, Nick Walker, and Anthony Bombaci. Prior to joining The Finch, he was with Apheleia Restaurant Group at Hawthorn, PakPao Thai, and Wits Steakhouse. A native of Waxahachie, he's dedicated to mentoring young chefs, as well.

Tony France, Ritz Carlton Las Colinas
France is a Los Angeles native whose Sicilian grandfather gave him a love of cooking. He attended Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena and worked in luxury hotels in Marina del Rey, Palm Desert, and Santa Barbara. He's the first new head of the kitchen at the newly revamped Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas in more than two decades, and oversees the property's four restaurants and bars, private dining, in-room dining, and banquet operations.

Travis Wyatt, Mirador
Wyatt has worked at highly visible restaurants in Texas and Florida, including the Front Room at the Lumen Hotel, the French Room at the Adolphus, and Filament, the Matt McAllister restaurant in Deep Ellum. He was part of the team when Mirador first opened in 2017, and worked at Queso Beso, another Headington property, before joining chef Junior Borges at The Village, where he was executive sous chef at Meridian. He returned to the Headington family to reopen Mirador in late 2023.

Will Salisbury, Carbone
Salisbury is a New England native whose life and culinary travels have taken him from Nantucket to Europe to New Orleans. He worked with famed chef John Besh at NOLA restaurants such as Domenica, as well as the acclaimed Cochon. He came to Dallas to join Bruno Davaillon at Bullion, where he worked right through a bout with cancer. He joined Major Food Group in fall 2021 as chef de cuisine at Carbone, their grandly mounted Italian restaurant in the Design District, with a cuisine that resonates deeply for Salisbury, whose heritage is Italian-American.