Austin chef named James Beard finalist; three other Central Texas women also nominated

And then there was one Austin chef.

The James Beard Foundation winnowed its nominees for Best Chef: Texas down to five finalists Wednesday, and Birdie's chef and co-owner Tracy Malechek Ezekiel was the sole Austin chef left standing. The Houston native who opened Birdie's with husband, Arjav Ezekiel in the summer of 2021, had been named one of five Austin-based semifinalists in January, along with Geoff Ellis of Mum Foods Smokehouse & Delicatessen, Joseph Gomez of the Con Todo taqueria located at Celis Brewery, Tavel Bristol-Josephn of Canje, and Fermín Nuñez of Suerte and Este.

Malechek-Ezekiel and Arjav moved to Austin from New York City in 2019 and wisely took some time to imagine exactly what they wanted their first restaurant to be. The couple initially considered a fine dining restaurant. But their time dining and working in Austin changed their minds.

“We wanted to open a place where we could drop in twice a week, a place where line cooks could go to, a place front-of-house people could go to, the kind of place a neighborhood could fall in love with,” Malechek-Ezekiel told the American-Statesman in 2021.

From 2021: Birdie's is the best new restaurant in Austin

What that ended up meaning is a counter-service restaurant in East Austin that takes many of its cues from Italy and France. Birdie's serves straight forward food executed flawlessly, whether that be an exceptional pasta, one of the best beef tartare preparations in the state, or a perfectly executed piece of seared fish.

“Simple food you want to eat with wine,” in the chef's words.

The Beard honor follows a string of national recognition for Birdie's, including being named the best restaurant in American in 2023 by Food & Wine magazine.

Barbs B Q in Lockhart also earned a nod from the Beard Foundation

Malechek-Ezekiel wasn't the only woman from Central Texas to earn recognition from the Beard Foundation. The New York City-based organization named Barbs B Q of Lockhart one of the 10 finalists in the Best New Restaurant category.

Owners Chuck Charnichart, Alexis Tovías Morales and Haley Conlin, and the trio’s business partner Joanne Irizarry, successfully burst into the historically male-dominated world of barbecue last summer with their exceptional restaurant on the town square of the Barbecue Capital of Texas. Following a rave review from the American-Statesman in summer 2023, the restaurant was named one of the 20 Best New Restaurants in the Austin area in the Austin360 Dining Guide last fall.

Review: Lockhart is reclaiming its crown for Barbecue Capital of Texas — 3 crowns, to be exact

For those who have not made the trip to Lockhart to see what the women have cooking, we'll give you a primer and some recs: Taste the influence of Mexico in the ground guajillo and chile de arbol peppers that blend mild fruitiness and earthiness into the salt and black pepper rub applied to supple brisket and a hulking but tender massive beef rib that’s as good as any I’ve ever tried. More peppery kick emanates from candied pork ribs that are lacquered with a tomato-and-vinegar-based sauce dialed up with serrano-steeped simple syrup and finished with a shower of lime zest for a sweet-spicy-tangy finish. Peppers also electrify the color and flavor of the side dish “green spaghett,” popular in Charnichart's and Morales’ native Brownsville.

The Beard honors extended throughout the state, as Mixtli in San Antonio was named one of five finalists for Outstanding Restaurant in the country.

Chefs Diego Galicia and Rico Torres opened their fine dining Mexican tasting menu restaurant in a converted box car in 2013, quickly catching the American-Statesman’s attention, and eventually evolved into a larger restaurant in San Antonio’s Southtown that opened in 2021.

The restaurant, which explores the history and various regions of Mexico on its rotating menu and is annually named one of the best in San Antonio by the San Antonio Express-News, was joined in the category by Marfa barbecue restaurant Convenience West.

David Uygur of intimate Italian restaurant Lucia in Dallas was named a finalist in the national category of Outstanding Chef.

Winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

More Austin restaurant coverage

2023 Dining Guide: Here are 20 of the best new restaurants in Austin

Parkside's back: Closed since 2022, one of downtown Austin’s best restaurants returns with new look, menu

More East Austin: Eight months and $300,000 later, Nixta Taqueria fully reopens in East Austin

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin chef, trio of Lockhart women named James Beard award finalists