Dallas restaurants named semifinalists for James Beard Awards

Dallas-Fort Worth has three of the four Texas semifinalists for a national James Beard Award in the best new restaurant category.

Driving the news: The James Beard Foundation announced its semifinalists Wednesday.

Why it matters: Winning a James Beard — or even being nominated — can put a restaurant on the map.

The intrigue: Tatsu in Dallas, with its elusive reservations, is one of the three local semifinalists for best new restaurant.

• Restaurant Beatrice in North Oak Cliff, which we previously wrote about, and Don Artemio in Fort Worth, which offers Mexican wines, also made the list.

Plus: Dallas has numerous semifinalists in other nationwide categories, including outstanding chef nominee Junior Borges of Brazilian cuisine restaurant Meridian.

• Bishop Arts Italian eatery Lucia is among the outstanding restaurant nominees.
• Richardson's La Casita Bakeshop — an oft recommended joint by Axios Dallas readers — and Oak Cliff nonprofit Kuluntu Bakery made the list of nominees for the new outstanding bakery category.

Zoom in: The Beard awards has its own category for best chefs of Texas. The locals who made the list are:

• Goldee's Barbecue chefs Jalen Heard, Lane Milne and Jonny White
• Revolver Taco Lounge chef Regino Rojas
• José chef Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman
• Molino Olōyō chefs Olivia López and Jonathan Percival

What's next: The finalists will be announced in March.

• The award ceremony is in June in Chicago.