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Eater
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Here Is Austin, Texas's 2025 James Beard Award Winner
The James Beard Foundation Awards were held tonight, June 16, and Austin, Texas walked away with one big winner. Arjav Ezekiel, beverage director and co-owner of Birdie's in East Austin, won the Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service award. Ezekiel was born in New Delhi, India, and moved with his family to Portland, Oregon when he was 12 years old, where he gained foundational hospitality knowledge from his father, who worked in hotels. After stints working at restaurants in Washington, D.C., and New York, he eventually relocated to Austin and opened Birdie's with his wife and business partner Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, who serves as Birdie's chef and co-owner. The wine program at Birdie's has been recognized in national food publications, including on Eater Austin, when Birdie's won an Eater Award for Best New Neighborhood Wine Bar in 2021. In January 2025, the James Beard Foundation recognized six Austin chefs and restaurants on its semifinalists list, while San Antonio earned seven nods, largely in the Best Chef: Texas category. On April 2, the foundation revealed its finalists: In the Best Chef: Texas category, Emil Oliva of San Antonio's Leche de Tigre and Michael Anthony Serva of Marfa, Texas's Bordo each received nods; the award ended up going to Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast in Spring, Texas. Other finalists included Mixtli in San Antonio in the Outstanding Hospitality category; Atomix, a restaurant in New York City, took home that honor. The James Beard Awards, often considered 'the Oscars of food,' are among the most prestigious awards in the food and hospitality industry. Each year, the James Beard Foundation restaurants, bars, and hospitality professionals in categories like Outstanding Restaurant, Best Chef, and Best New Chef. This year's awards added three brand-new categories: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. The first James Beard Awards ceremony was held in 1991, when chefs like Rick Bayless, Nancy Silverton, and Wolfgang Puck walked away as winners. In recent years, the foundation has been under increased scrutiny after canceling its programming in 2020 and 2021 due to misbehavior and abuse allegations against nominated chefs, and a lack of nominated and winning Black chefs among the categories. In response, the James Beard Foundation conducted an internal audit to make its voting processes more inclusive and equitable before returning in 2022. The awards have also shifted the Best Chef category to a regional model to better recognize the diversity and depth of talent. Here are the 2025 James Beard Foundation awards winners for Austin:Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's in Austin Get the full list of James Beard Award winners from across the country on Eater. Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2025. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation. See More:
Eater
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A ‘Vital' Williamsburg Diner Is Closing This Summer
A Brooklyn restaurant known for its bright all-day vibes and modern New York Jewish diner and deli dishes is closing this summer. Gertie — that former Eater critic called a 'vital' addition to the NYC neighborhood dining scene — will have its last day in Williamsburg at 357 Grand Street at Marcy Avenue on Sunday, June 15. The Instagram announcement describes the shutter as Gertie's 'season finale, not a series finale.' The restaurant's co-owners founder and restaurateur Nate Adler and Rachel Jackson are looking for a new location for the restaurant, ideally near their other Brooklyn restaurant, Jewish American bistro Gertrude's, in Prospect Heights (which is run with chef and restaurant industry meme-maker Eli Sussman). Eater has reached out for more information. Adler took his cues for Gertie from Los Angeles all-day cafes such as Gjelina, but New York sensibilities, when the restaurant opened in 2019. Its modern Jewish menu includes dishes like chicken schnitzel with challah, bagels, latkes, and more. At the time, former Eater NY critic Ryan Sutton described Gertie as mimicking 'the sunny ethos of Los Angeles while also acting as a neo-nostalgia factory for classic New York specialties.' The restaurant also won Eater New York's Eater Award for best design of that year. Sign up for our newsletter.
