James Beard Awards reach for diversity in Austin

Many of Austin's most celebrated chefs these days are much more likely to reflect the city's diversity than even a few years ago.

Why it matters: Recognizing talent in the restaurant industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards — to be bestowed Monday — in many ways define for the general public who counts as an elite chef.

Zoom in: Austin's Beard nominees before 2019 were virtually all white, with exceptions like Paul Qui and Rene Ortiz of La Condesa.

• In 2022, Black Austin chefs were semifinalists for the first time — Amanda Turner of Olamaie and Damian Brockway of barbecue truck Distant Relatives . That year, Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria won the emerging chef award and Iliana de la Vega of Oaxacan fine dining spot El Naranjo won the award for best chef in Texas.
• Brockway was a semifinalist again in 2023, along with Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Canje , as well as Egyptian BBQ innovator Kareem El-Ghayesh and Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panadería .
• This year, Bristol-Joseph was nominated again, as well as Camacho, Fermín Núñez of Suerte, and Joseph Gomez of border taco trailer Con Todo .

Yes but: Those chefs didn't make the final cut this year.

• Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, chef and co-owner of Birdie's, is the sole Austin chef left standing , a finalist in the best Texas chef category.
• The women-owned Barbs B Q of Lockhart is one of 10 finalists in the Best New Restaurant category.

Between the lines: Austin has long been home to diverse chefs.

• The city is also becoming a magnet for chefs with unique points of view, like Mashama Bailey, a two-time James Beard winner from Savannah, Georgia, who opened two restaurants in downtown Austin a couple of years ago, and less well-known ones, such as Eva Bundi of The Kibanda .

What they're saying: "The shift you are seeing is likely a result of the changes we made to the awards in 2020 and 2021," Beard Foundation spokesperson Katherine Gray tells Axios.

• Changes included increasing the diversity of the awards voters — "since American food culture is vast and diverse," Gray said.
• The mission of the awards was updated to include "recognizing those who demonstrate a commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive," Gray said.

Zoom out: "There's been a major shift in who are the noted celebrated chefs in Austin," Brandon Watson, who served from 2014 through 2019 as a food editor first at the Austin Chronicle and then at CultureMap Austin, tells Axios.

• "When I first started, it was the peak of the farm-to-table movement in food. Certainly people of color were involved in that, but at that time in Austin it was largely a white movement in food," said Watson, who now works at the Texas Fine and Wine Alliance, a nonprofit whose mission is to foster awareness and innovation in the Texas culinary community. (He wasn't specifically representing the alliance in his conversation with Axios.)

The bottom line: Recognition from the Beard Foundation, doled out in its long-lists of nominees and ultimately award winners, "can really increase business," Watson says, "as can media attention, and they often go hand in hand."

• "That's especially true in Austin, where dining out is kind of a sport these days, with so many new openings," Watson says. "So being able to rise above that rabble is very important."

Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.