Aaron Franklin working the pits at Franklin Barbecue. (Laura Skelding AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Austin chefs Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue) and Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine) have been named finalists for Best Chef Southwest by the James Beard Foundation. It is Franklin’s first such nomination and the third consecutive finalist nod for Gilmore.
They are joined by Justin Yu (Oxheart) and Hugo Ortega (Hugo’s, Caracol) of Houston, Martin Rios of Restaurant Martin in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Kevin Binkley of Binkley’s Restaurant and Café Bink in Cave Creek, Arizona.
Joining Franklin and Gilmore with a nod this morning was Caitlin Riley, a video content producer for Whole Foods Quality Rye magazine. Riley earned a finalist nod in the Visual Storytelling category. For a complete list of Beard finalists, click here.
The James Beard Awards take place May 4 in Chicago.
