To be a truly world-class food city, we still need more diversity. Tavel Bristol-Joseph's Caribbean cuisine fare is visionary - contemporizing the region's traditional fare without tempering its assertive use of spice. Thank goodness there has been a sea change. Canje It may seem like ancient history, but it wasn't that long ago when Austin's palate was restricted to Tex-Mex, barbecue, and Americanized European cuisine. Why fuss with establishing restaurants as fiefdoms with chefs as their plundering lords? There's nothing more aspirational than serving orecchiette dressed in Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and dandelion greens. In post-pandemic Austin, the success of Birdie's casual model helped the entire culinary scene to reset. Birdie's After the cultural comeuppance of molecular gastronomy - its coffin nailed long before The Menu made it multiplex farce - nothing seems as current as a baguette smeared with washed-rind cheese. Join us in giving one more round of applause below before we unveil the winner on May 11 at Fair Market. You can congratulate us on our bravery at our annual Tastemaker Awards party. Their eclectic menus, inspiring interiors, and dazzling beverage programs set the bar for where restaurants should be today.

Together, these eateries are what makes Austin such a dynamic food city. Even in jest, we truly have no shady things to say.

That's undeniably true, but it would be tricky to get to the next part. If we were to roast the eight nominees for the CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Restaurant of the Year, we'd start by saying they need no introduction.

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