By: Michele Harrmann | From: Forbes
Texas has become the latest destination for a new Michelin Guide. This past week, Texas Tourism and Michelin officials co-shared news about the upcoming guidebook, to be revealed later this year. This inaugural guide on the Lone Star State will highlight culinary recommendations in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
Texas gastronomy is broadly known for Texas-style barbecue, steaks, Gulf Coast-sourced seafood and Tex-Mex, a Texas take on Mexican food. However, its respective cities are linked to certain culinary contributions.
Specifically, San Antonio is recognized as the birthplace not only of Tex-Mex but also chili con carne, puffy tacos and Fritos. San Antonio is also the location of the southwest campus of the Culinary Institute of America and one of two U.S. cities named as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. The other is Tucson, Arizona.
“Visit San Antonio has been in conversations with Michelin and Travel Texas for several months and we are delighted that Michelin chose Texas and San Antonio for their next guide,” said Marc Anderson, president and CEO for Visit San Antonio. “Our city’s inclusion in the upcoming guide underscores San Antonio's emergence as a destination for discerning food enthusiasts seeking unique and memorable dining experiences.”
As for the city’s counterparts, Houston is known for Viet-Cajun, influenced by the Vietnamese diaspora and mingled with French Acadian and Southern cuisine. Austin has gotten high marks for breakfast tacos and food trucks. Dallas is a go-to for Frito pie, and Fort Worth offers many options for trying chicken-fried steak, among other orders.
“Texas cuisine reflects the state’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population,” said Director of Travel Texas Tim Fennell, in an emailed media statement. “As a leading agricultural state, Texas offers our local chefs an abundance of homegrown ingredients and a diverse selection of high-quality livestock, while our fisheries offer fresh seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.”
Also in his statement, Fennell expressed that “while Texas is proud of its renowned Tex-Mex and barbeque cuisine, our culinary industry is a dynamic blend of traditional and contemporary flavors with chefs across the state pushing boundaries with innovative techniques, creative ingredients and outstanding hospitality."
Texas is to be the 11th North American destination featured in the Michelin Guide series. Michelin published its first North American Guide in 2005 for New York.
Guides have since been added in Chicago (2011), Washington, D.C. (2017), California (San Francisco in 2008, statewide 2019), Miami/Orlando/Tampa, Florida (2022), Toronto (2022), Vancouver (2022), Atlanta (2023) and Mexico (2024).
According to Carly Grieff, who handles external communications for Michelin, the guide’s management sends their inspectors—who are kept anonymous—to conduct a destination assessment within a specific locale.
“The inspection team evaluates whether an area’s culinary scene is advanced enough for a Michelin Guide selection of restaurants and whether the culinary landscape has potential for growth,” explained Grieff. “If they determine that is the case, the process would begin for the Guide to be established in that area.”
Grieff added that their team independently chose to highlight Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. “Nevertheless, it is only the beginning of our story with Texas, and as the Michelin Guide works on a long-term scale, we observe very often the extension of its geographical scope within a country, a region or a state over time.”
The 2024 Texas restaurant selection will join the Michelin Guide selection of hotels later this year that will feature unique and exciting places to stay in Texas and around the world.