Thomas Bille of Belly and the Beast Takes Home James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas
Bille tells deeply personal stories through his cooking, unraveling his family history and formative years living in Los Angeles. The restaurant began as a pop-up in 2018 and later opened as a counter-service restaurant in Old Town Spring in February 2020. COVID impacted the nation the following month, and in 2021 Bille was forced to close Belly of the Beast after a dispute over increased rent with the landlord. It reopened at its current location in 2023. The menu at Belly of the Beast combines his Mexican American heritage, French culinary training, and family memories into dishes that are personal, playful, and genre-defying. Previously, Belly of the Beast earned a Bib Gourmond at the first-ever Texas Michelin Awards ceremony.
The 2025 nominees for Houston included Ema for Best New Restaurant; March for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program; and Emmanuel Chavez at Tatemó in the Best Chef: Texas category.
Each year, the James Beard Foundation recognizes restaurants, bars, and hospitality professionals in categories such as Outstanding Restaurant, Best Chef, and Best New Chef. The first James Beard Awards ceremony was held in 1991, when chefs such as Rick Bayless, Nancy Silverton, and Wolfgang Puck emerged as winners. In recent years, the awards have been under increased scrutiny following the cancellation of its programming in 2020 and 2021 due to allegations of misbehavior and abuse against nominated chefs, as well as a lack of nominated and winning Black chefs in the categories. In response, the James Beard Foundation conducted an internal audit to make its voting processes more inclusive and equitable, with plans to return in 2022. In recent years, the awards have shifted the Best Chef category to a regional model to better recognize the diversity and depth of talent.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards. See More:
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