Photo courtesy of Wild Oats

The Hit ListHouston

The March Hit List: Lucille’s, Bludorn, Blood Bros., Wild Oats, and More

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The restaurant industry is abuzz this month after the James Beard Foundation announced the full list of semifinalists for its 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards, which some consider to be the Oscars of the food world.

And Space City is well-represented among the diverse crop of nominees this year, with 13 of the Houston area’s top dining destinations and chefs making the cut, including Lucille’s philanthropist chef Chris Williams, Xin Chao’s dynamic duo Christine Ha and Tony J. Nguyen, Felipe Riccio of March, Blood Bros. BBQ pitmaster Quy Hoang, Malaysian cuisine master Alex Au-Yeung of Phat Eatery, Sylvia Casares of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen, Kaiser Lashkari of Himalaya Restaurant, and rising star Aaron Bludorn, whose eponymous restaurant Bludorn opened to raves in August 2020, among a few others. (Montrose Mexican spot Hugo’s, cocktail bar Julep, and Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House in San Leon also received nominations for Outstanding Hospitality, Outstanding Bar Program, and Best New Restaurant, respectively.)

Of course, these chefs are all winners in our book, and you can find most of them on this month’s nominee-focused Hit List, not to mention a few other exciting new entrants to the local dining scene.