Whether or not they’re launching new pop-ups or conserving hectic restaurant kitchens working, San Antonio’s rising star cooks — cooks de delicacies, sous cooks, impartial cooks — are the way forward for town’s eating scene. Most people won’t know their names, however you’ll be able to wager their trade friends know their work.
That makes this class significantly significant. A nomination for Rising Star Chef within the 2026 CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards signifies that the judging panel assume these cooks have the appropriate stuff to maintain Alamo Metropolis’s restaurant scene transferring ahead.
Assist us have fun all of the nominees on the 2026 Tastemaker Awards social gathering on the Briscoe Museum on Could 14. We’ll gobble bites from this 12 months’s nominated eating places and sip cocktails from our sponsors earlier than revealing the winners in a short ceremony. Just a few early fowl low cost tickets stay, so don’t delay.
After shopping for your ticket, meet our nominees via our particular editorial collection. Then, tip your hat to the ten Rising Star Chef nominees of 2026:
Adesuwa Elaiho, AsukarChef Elaiho’s accomplishments span continents. After receiving formal coaching at Le Cordon Bleu, she refused to let her momentum decelerate, competing on the Meals Community’s Halloween Baking Championship, incomes raves in nationwide publications just like the New York Occasions, and racking up numerous awards. Simply as importantly, she earned the belief of the restaurant neighborhood. When Tim McDiarmid left San Antonio and her beloved Tim the Lady Catering enterprise, she trusted chef Elaiho with the model.
Brian Reese, The MagpieThe Magpie’s East Facet kitchen, on view to friends, is famously some of the calm areas on the town, regardless of the flurry of dishes being despatched out to expo. On the coronary heart of that’s Reese, born and raised in San Antonio however schooled on worldwide delicacies. Not solely does he share govt chef Sue Kim’s finesse with multitasking, he shares her views that nice meals can come from anyplace, completely executing a menu that spans Korea, Italy, England, and possibly a couple of imaginary worlds,
Ian Lanphear, IsidoreTo say Lanphear is a rising star is an understatement. In any case, because the chef de delicacies of Isidore, he was a part of the staff that introduced San Antonio certainly one of its first Michelin stars. However his old flame was foraging. Lanphear’s incomparable knack for locating nature’s culinary treasures leads to a wonderful eating expertise that is true to that usually overused chestnut, “farm to desk.” However whereas main the employees and growing menus, he ensures that’s not simply an empty cliche.
Jaime Gonzalez, Wok WeyGonzalez is a part of San Antonio’s eating DNA, serving to launch Lodge Emma and the much-missed Carriqui. After years of wonderful eating, he left his Pearl submit to open up his dream idea — Wok Wey. The return to connecting instantly with prospects appears to have energized him. He’s now sending electrical dishes like a signature fried rice bowl with succulent char siu pork and playful riffs like tacos Chinos (actually bao) that dig deep into his Chinese language and Mexican roots.
Jason Garcia, Tucker’s ItalianA longtime protege of chef Michael Sohocki, Garcia has labored at Restaurant Gwendolyn and Il Forno. Now, they’re facet by facet as co-owners of a brand new Italian enterprise. There, Garcia manages to raise a typical Italian menu with delicate, but efficient particulars. Grilled rooster finds a way of dignified taste with the correct quantity of rosemary and lemon. The pasta is handmade. Risotto muffins have an intriguing contact of saffron. Simply as he did with the re-imagined constructing, the previous web site of certainly one of San Antonio’s most historic bars, Garcia constructed the menu by respecting the classics.
Javi Gutierrez, Porc Slap, Buddy’s Huge TroubleA king of the pop-up scene, chef Gutierrez is an authorized sandwich-making machine. At Buddy’s, which means topping Texas wagyu pit beef with chimichurri, tiger sauce, and shaved onions. At Porc Slap, it’s rosemary and fennel wood-fired porchetta topped with an ingredient record that’s extra James Beard Award-winning kitchen than pop-up tent. Each definitely haven’t escaped the eye of our judges, who nominated each ideas as pop-up of the 12 months.
Jorge Flores, Reese Bros. Barbecue, Burritos FronteraA jack-of-all-trades, Flores wasn’t content material sitting on his laurels with the lauded Reese Bros. Barbecue staff. In 2025, he launched his personal ardour venture, a deeply felt homage to his West Texas roots. Rising up, Juarez-style burritos have been a deal with reserved for the tip of the week, shared along with his dad after Mass. San Antonio ought to thank its fortunate stars that it’s now a part of the familia.
Karla Espinosa, Artwork to TableCelebrated pastry chef Karla Espinosa shines with Artwork to Desk, the place she (and cofounder Lorena Paredes) transforms celebrated artworks into refined and immersive tasting menus. That mixture of drop-dead beautiful aesthetics and craft ought to come as no shock. Espinosa has spun sugary creations for a few of San Antonio’s most considerate eating places, together with Nicosi and Mixtli. On her personal, she is redefining what meals will be. A current presentation turned bread service right into a layered pop masterpiece.
Matt Garcia, Gigi’s DeliGarcia is the precise kind of chef you’d anticipate to run a sandwich store — outgoing, pleasant, and keen about what particulars make an on a regular basis lunch staple right into a giddy second. Thick slices of bread function a basis for a beneficiant serving of meats, cheeses, spices and toppings like roasted peppers. However his affable persona tends to shine extra within the condiments. Take the signature “mayoniara,” a whimsical mix of mayonnaise and marinara. We want the proficient chef would bottle it as much as promote at H-E-B.
Matti Payments, Howdy ChildThere’s solely so some ways to make a sandwich particular. Payments is aware of it’s all within the particulars. Her creations by no means scream with flashy breads or sauces higher left to fashionable New York menus. As an alternative slow-smoked meats, sourdough made in home, and native lettuces mix for a quieter chunk. That’s to not say that there’s no craft. However when you can also make a pastrami as rightfully well-known as hers, you’ll be able to go away the fanfare to others.
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The Tastemaker Awards ceremony is sponsored in San Antonio by NXT LVL EVENT, Maker’s Mark, Lone Star Beer, Seedlip, Ritual Zero Proof, and extra to be introduced. A portion of the proceeds will profit our nonprofit accomplice, Culinaria.
