San Antonio is 0-for-22 in its quest to win a food industry Oscar.
The 35th annual James Beard Awards ended Monday night at the Lyric Opera in Chicago without a winner from the Alamo City.
Mixtli, San Antonio’s only Michelin star restaurant, fell short in the Outstanding Hospitality category, losing to Atomix of New York.
Emil Oliva of Leche de Tigre failed to win Best Chef: Texas as Thomas Bille of Spring claimed top honors for his work at Belly of the Beast.
Over the past 24 years, San Antonio has had more than 40 nominees, 22 of them finalists in a range of categories.
Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks earned the city’s first nomination in 2001 for Best Chef: Southwest. He’s been named a Best Chef finalist seven times. Other best chef finalists have included Steven McHugh of Cured (six times), Andrew Weissman (four times, all with since-closed Le Rev), Chris Cullum of Cullum’s Attaboy (once) and John Russ of Clementine (once).
Mixtli was a finalist for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022.
One San Antonian celebrated with a winning documentary crew Saturday night. UTSA professor emerita Ellen Clark was the featured subject in the film, “La Mera Mera Talamera,” which won a James Beard Award for Best Commercial Media. The film title roughly translates to “The very best tamale maker.”
The 12-minute film, produced by Masienda, a masa company in Los Angeles, explores the tradition of tamaladas (tamale parties) at Clark’s home near Jefferson High School.
“The video centers on my learning how to make tamales and my work promoting the cultural importance of tamales in our celebrations,” Clark said. “I’m so thrilled that the James Beard award recognized our home cuisine of making tamales in such an Oscar manner.”
The James Beard Foundation presented its first awards in 1991. New York City has won more than 230 James Beard Awards, Chicago more than 60.
Austin claimed its seventh James Beard Award on Monday night when Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie’s won for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.
Houston and Dallas have each claimed two awards. Chad Houser of Dallas was named Humanitarian of the Year in April and gave his acceptance speech on Monday.
In February, Gaido’s in Galveston, serving the Gulf Coast since 1911, won a James Beard Award for America’s Classics.
