This Austin restaurant owner is a James Beard Award finalist for his 'Turkey Book'
Last month, Birdie's co-owner Arjav Ezekiel was also recognized as a James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.
Griffiths' influence extends beyond his literary achievements. As Dai Due's owner, he has been instrumental in shaping Austin's distinctive culinary identity. The restaurant, which began as a supper club and farmer's market stand in 2014, embodies a strong commitment to seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, primarily from the Lone Star State. This dedication to Texan regional bounty has garnered national recognition.
The James Beard Awards are some of the most coveted honors in the American culinary world. Established by the James Beard Foundation, the awards recognize talent in various categories, including chefs, restaurants, journalists, authors and other food professionals. The Media Awards specifically celebrate achievements in food and beverage-related content across books, broadcast media and journalism.
Griffiths' nomination falls in the Single Subject category, which honors books with a focused culinary theme, exploring a specific ingredient, dish, or cooking method through recipes and narratives. "The Turkey Book" aligns with this category, offering an exploration of wild turkey from the hunt to the plate.
"The Turkey Book," offers readers a journey through a single turkey season. Griffiths chronicles his travels across four distinct regions of the United States, joining hunters and chefs in pursuit of America's iconic native bird. Beyond the hunting narratives, Griffiths' book offers a guide to preparing wild game. Readers will find step-by-step instructions for plucking and skinning, detailed butchery sequences, and over 100 recipes that utilize every part of the bird. The book also includes photography capturing the diverse habitats of the wild turkey.
Griffiths won a Single Subject James Beard Award in 2022 for "The Hog Book."
Earlier this year, USA Today lauded Dai Due as one of the best restaurants in the country, highlighting its confident expression of Texan cuisine under the guidance of executive chef Janie Ramirez. The review specifically praised dishes like the smoked porterhouse hog with apple butter and tallow-roasted mushrooms with whipped cherry lard, underscoring the restaurant's innovative yet deeply rooted approach.
The James Beard Media Award winners will be announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 14. Griffiths' nomination not only celebrates his individual contribution to food writing but also shines a light on the culinary scene he has helped cultivate in Austin.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dai Due's owner recognized as James Beard Awards finalist for his book
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Candidate for Texas Senate District 3 visits Jacksonville
Rhonda Ward is a Republican candidate for Texas Senate District 3, a seat which will be vacated by retiring Senator Robert Nichols. Ward is currently conducting a 15-stop tour in the counties which comprise Senate District 3 and recently made a stop in Jacksonville. 'I am the true conservative in this race,' Ward said. 'We need to have our representative reflect the values of the district. We need a senator that's going to be a conservative voice for East Texas.' Ward defines 'conservative' as advancing President Donald Trump's America First agenda, limited government, protecting our freedoms and preserving family values. An eighth-generation Texan, Ward was asked to define family values. She said she believes in the traditional family unit and that there are two genders. 'I understand we have single-mother families and single-father families and I support them,' she said. 'We need to promote the family unit. That's what builds communities. That's what America was founded on.' Ward states her priorities include reducing the property tax for all homeowners, reducing insurance rates and supporting law enforcement. She shared some ideas on how to reduce the property tax. 'I think you could do a slight increase in sales tax,' Ward said. 'I also think you could tax some agencies that have not been taxed.' As an example, Ward said as a real estate appraiser she isn't required to charge sales tax, yet a surveyor she knows is required to do so. 'I've talked to a lot of economists that have done a lot of numbers on this,' Ward said. 'With our surplus, we could buy down the M&O (maintenance and operation) in all the school districts. We could buy down a certain portion with the surplus over time.' The implication being that with additional state funds, school districts would not have to raise as much funding from local property tax. Regarding increasing insurance rates, Ward said she would like to form a coalition or task force to investigate who controls the insurance rates. 'When you call around, you get almost the same quote,' she said. At the same time, she recognizes the state has experienced natural disasters. Ward said any action that might be taken would depend on the findings of such a coalition. The mother of two adult sons and grandmother of five is a resident of Nacogdoches. She has served on the State Republican Executive Committee, is a past president of Nacogdoches County Republican Women, has been a precinct chair and election judge. She owns East Texas Appraisal Services. During her meet-and-greet at Postmasters Coffee, Ward was asked a question likely on the minds of many in Cherokee County and the surrounding area. She was asked her opinion regarding the permit request to remove approximately 5 billion gallons of groundwater annually from the Queen City Sand, Wilcox Group and Carrizo/Reklaw Formation aquifers. Ward said she had heard of the permit requests and cautioned against what she termed as 'knee-jerk reactions.' She said any legislation should be carefully crafted and reviewed to ensure farmers and ranchers – and presumably others – who rely on the same groundwater source would not be negatively affected. Tammy Baker, Navarro County Republican Party Treasurer and Precinct 205 Chair, was among those attending the event. She said she traveled to Jacksonville for the event because getting Ward into office is important. 'She's an SREC, so I know her from conventions. I trust her,' Baker said. 'It's just very important to me to get good people in office whether they're in my district or not.' Baker said she hoped Ward's tour of the district would result in many people hearing Ward's plans and greater involvement by the general public in electioneering. Ward maintains a website, and a Facebook page, Rhonda Ward for State Senator. Solve the daily Crossword
Eater
8 hours ago
- Eater
For From Scratch Hospitality, The Restaurant's Location Sets The Tone
While most operators begin with an idea for a restaurant and its menu before looking at a location, Fort Worth chef Marcus Paslay flips the script, finding the location first, then decides what's missing in the neighborhood. In Paslay's opinion, every restaurant he opens needs to stay true to place. From Scratch Hospitality's growing slate of restaurants in Fort Worth includes Clay Pigeon Food & Drink, Piattello Italian Kitchen, Provender Hall, and Walloon's. Each of them cater to their respective neighborhoods — Foundry District, Waterside, Mule Alley, and Magnolia Village, respectively. Paslay has covered a lot of ground during his nearly 20 years in the hospitality industry. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he embarked on a culinary tour around the country. It began with some time at Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, before he became what he calls 'a working tourist' in Alaska and Washington state (where he worked at the James Beard Award-winning Canlis in Seattle), on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, and eventually Colorado, where he helped open the Four Seasons Resort in Vail. When he and his wife, Emily, started their family, they moved back to their hometown of Arlington, and Marcus took the lead as executive chef at Neighborhood Services in Dallas. Food getting ready to be taken to tables at Provendar Hall. From Scratch Hospitality In 2013, Pasley opened Clay Pigeon, the first restaurant of his own, in Fort Worth's Foundry District (before that area had a name). The real estate investment firm M2G Ventures began redeveloping the largely forgotten industrial area two years later. The focus at Clay Pigeon is on regional and seasonal fare, including its famous grilled bone marrow, and fan favorites like grilled duck breast and steak frites. His second restaurant, Piattello Italian Kitchen, opened in 2017 as one of the inaugural tenants in the Waterside development. Piattello's menu is hearty, authentic, rustic, and seasonal, with scratch wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas. Popular dishes include calamari with fried olives, eggplant Parmesan, and the pasta dish Sunday Gravy — only available on Sundays, as its name suggests. A cook prepping a pizza at Piatello. From Scratch Hospitality 'We want to serve the community, but also, it's just the way we like to eat,' Paslay says. 'Clay Pigeon is a great example. It's accessible to the high-end neighborhoods that surround it, so we cater to that clientele. And Piattello has become a family-friendly experience, with our patio opening to the Grove at Waterside, where parents can watch their kids run around while enjoying a glass of wine and a casual meal.' Likewise, Provender Hall which opened in June 2020 in the newly restored Mule Alley in the Stockyards, is where local horse and cattle raisers dine side by side with tourists. The menu includes ranch-style dishes like smoked trout dip, fried green tomatoes, cowboy-cut rib-eyes, grilled trout, fish and chips, and a slow-smoked beef rib for two — providing a taste of Texana. Paslay's most recent opening was Walloon's located in the 701 on Magnolia Avenue. The Chicago-style eatery is housed in a former bank, with its historic vault now serving as a private dining room and wine cellar. The urban interior houses a raw seafood bar, and a sophisticated U-shaped cocktail bar. At Walloon's, you'll find dishes like a rare Italian beef sandwich and moules marinieres. 'The restaurants can't be about our ego or what we want to serve; they have to be about what our customers need,' Paslay says. 'In the case of Walloon's ― Magnolia was lacking a casual seafood spot, so we gave it one.' From Scratch Hospitality purchased the Mercado Juarez Mexican franchise in April 2023. The 42-year-old restaurant concept has two locations, one in Fort Worth and another in Arlington, and Paslay plans to open more locations in the near future, offering what he calls 'the same hospitality at a lower price point.' Executive chef and owner Marcus Pasley at a Paslay Foundation event. From Scratch Hospitality For Paslay, hospitality extends beyond his restaurants. In 2021, he founded the Paslay Foundation, which benefits local charities that focus on testing and treatment of learning differences among underserved students. Paslay says that school was often a frustrating place for him, and he knows the hit a child's self-confidence can take when they fall behind their peers. 'I was fortunate enough to have the testing, diagnosis, and resources I needed to succeed,' he says. But testing alone can cost parents thousands, which is out of reach for too many families. 'It was a no-brainer for us to get involved with providing the resources for testing and tutoring for kids who are struggling. We don't want kids to be discouraged because they aren't keeping up in school.' Since its inception, the foundation has donated more than $500,000 to local organizations and professionals who support Fort Worth students with learning differences. The biggest benefactors to date have been Hill School, LinkED, and Literacy United. Over the past 12 years, From Scratch Hospitality has grown from the Paslays to include executive chef Scott Lewis, directors of operations Kellen Hamrah and Russell Kirkpatrick, and director of finance Ben Klipfel. To keep up with the growth, the company has gotten serious about benefits, including contributing to its staff's medical insurance premiums and offering voluntary dental, vision, life, accident, and critical illness coverage. Additionally, employees who are interested in growing in the company are given training and planning to develop a career path with From Scratch Hospitality. Currently, 90 percent of the group's salaried management has been promoted from within, Paslay says. Some employees even have a decade of tenure with the company. Paslay says Clay Pigeon's current general manager, James Noel, was hired as a barista at Piattello. This is the goal, but he understands it doesn't always work out that way. 'We have to be a growing hospitality group to promote from within. And, sometimes when our employees are ready to take their next step, the timing doesn't match, and they have to explore other restaurants. When I go to dine at another local restaurant and run into people who used to work for us, that feels good,' Paslay says. 'We've done our part in elevating the local landscape.' One neighborhood at a time. Diners eating at Provendar Hall. From Scratch Hospitality
Eater
a day ago
- Eater
How I Tripled Restaurant Sales by Streamlining the Lunch Rush
A version of this post originally appeared on August 20, 2025, in Eater and Punch's newsletter Pre Shift, a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world. This send is the final in a three-part series on high-volume restaurants, presented by Square — the technology company that makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible. Amba, according to Cambridge Street Hospitality Group chef and owner Will Gilson Where: Cambridge, Massachusetts The backstory: James Beard Award semifinalist Will Gilson launched Cambridge Street Hospitality Group in 2012 and now operates eight concepts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2024, he opened his most recent restaurant, Amba, at a local farmers market. In the first year of business, the Mediterranean-inspired fast-casual restaurant has almost tripled its daily sales. Gilson discusses how he got here. On staffing during peak hours I wish I could tell you that there's a perfect science behind it, but sometimes we just try to make sure that we're not overstacking ourselves. We have one person on the line to get everything open in the morning to cook breakfast. To prepare for our busiest hours, we add another person on the line at about 10:30 a.m. and another at noon. Between catering and in-house orders and stuff that's hitting the delivery services, we're doing up to 400 items. On encouraging online orders Now people are really used to ordering their food online ahead of time and picking it up, which [keeps] the queue of people [from getting too busy]. We don't have the infrastructure of Starbucks or Dunkin' as far as their online ordering goes, but everything from our website to our Square site prompts people to be able to do that. Most of [our customers] are placing their orders ahead of time. We also have two [self-service] kiosks that we have set up inside. On the kiosks, we have a sign that says, 'Don't want to wait in line, use this kiosk right here.' That's a way to direct people if there is a queue that is forming. Staffers working the line at Amba. Lisa Nichols On the efficiency of premade ingredients Coming from a chef background, I was thinking about making absolutely everything ourselves. What ended up helping us grow faster was identifying two of the items that we were going to be using the most—pita and hummus—and trying to see if we could find the best vendor that we could that could supply us with those. I'm sure I could make a better hummus than the one that we get, but it would take forever [between soaking, boiling, blending, and storing]—and it would require a system that is so complicated that maybe only a couple people could do it. We're paying a little bit of a premium to be able to have somebody else's product. Daily, we're probably saving five hours of labor. On strategically opening new locations I have been able to go from one restaurant to eight concepts in the past five years. I always [want to] make sure that we're walking into the right deal. A lot of the brands that get acquired by venture capital end up going into high-profile spaces with very high rent as a way for marketing. Owning this ourselves without that sort of investment means that those deals are less attractive to us. [We consider factors like] foot traffic and parking. If so much of your food is going out the door via delivery apps, then you need to make sure that you're in a space where people aren't having to park far away. You [also] want to avoid scooters and bicycles and Uber cars just clogging up the front of your business. Customers eating at the Cambridge location. Lisa Nichols We want to make sure that we don't grow too fast until we really understand the nuance of the demand [we're supplying]. We spent a lot of time trying to find a concept where we can hit the right price points; [at Amba,] there's nothing on the menu that costs over $20. We felt as though this was the type of concept that would fit into this neighborhood where there are a lot of offices and residences, and not a place that was known for sit-down dining. In all the years that we've been doing this, we've never opened up a concept that made the people so happy so quickly. I'm never confident that any restaurant will work, but you take a leap of faith. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
