Sean Welch
Audio By Carbonatix
Dallas had only one contestant going into the James Beard Awards ceremony last night. Denton had one as well, the first for the college town to the north.
Maggie Huff of Lucia was a semifinalist for the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker award. Scott Girling of Osteria Il Muro in Denton was a semifinalist for Best Chef Texas.
Neither walked away with an award. It’s been 32 years since chef Dean Fearing was awarded Best Chef in America Southwest in 1994.
Lucia has been in the running seven other times: Chef David Uygur has been a semifinalist for Best Chef in America Southwest five times (2014-2017, 2019); plus one nomination as Outstanding Chef in 2024; and Lucia was a nominee for Outstanding Restaurant in 2023.
Outstanding Pastry Chef and Baker went to Susan Bae at Moon Rabbit in Washington, D.C.
The Lone Star State earned only two awards: Best Chef: Texas went to Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu at JUN in Houston. Emerging Chef went to Adrian Torres at Maximo in the Houston enclave, West University Place.
See the full list of winners on the James Beard site.
