This week, food reviewers and tire company Michelin released its first-ever guide for Texas restaurants.
Fifteen businesses around the Lone Star State received one star, which means they have “high quality food,” and two restaurants received a green star in recognition of their sustainable practices.
The top cuisines represented, according to Michelin, are barbecue, American and Mexican.
Mando Rayo – host of the “Tacos of Texas” podcast, which just wrapped its fourth season – joined the Texas Standard to share his opinions.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity:
Texas Standard: Mando, congratulations on your fourth season.
Mando Rayo: I would say congratulations to all the hardworking people of the restaurant world and the business and especially the ones that work in Mexican kitchens. I think a part of this is like, hey, they’ve been doing this. They’ve been honing in on their craft. And now it’s really nice to see this recognition happening to Mexicans.
That’s kind of what the Nixta guy said – he really was calling out his fellow Hispanics and really sharing that award. He got like the best new chef of the night.
So yeah, they have Chef Edgar Rico. He got best young chef, and so that was amazing. And I think part of this recognition is like, you’ve probably seen his name in James Beard and others, but then you actually have Michelin Recommends and the Bib [Gourmand] Awards as well.
Austin got, I believe, seven of the 15 Michelin stars. And so it’s interesting to see how a lot of Mexican places and establishments like La Santa Barbacha and Cuantos Tacos and Discada.
And one of my favorites is Veracruz Fonda. And they’ve been around for a long time. They’re definitely an institution, and I think it’s a long time coming for them because they’ve been at it for many, many years.
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Were you disappointed, though, that any were left out?
There’s so many places, I would say, that were left out – definitely on the recommends list and the Bib Awards. When you’re looking at, say, Vaquero Taquero in Austin, Texas, or, you know, just some cultural institutions. I did see that Joe’s Bakery was on there. But I would love to see a place like Mi Tierra in San Antonio or even like Ninfa’s.
But I think part of this process is like, it’s a first year, and there’s more to come. And that’s what I look forward to. Unfortunately, my favorite places are usually in flea markets. So, you know, those reviewers probably don’t go all the way there.
You recently wrapped your fourth season of the Tacos of Texas podcast. Any reflections after all these years?
To be honest, this season really focused on our guests and them telling their own stories and creating their own platforms, building their own communities through cooking and storytelling. And so that’s really at the core. They didn’t wait for a media to kind of say, “hey, we’d like to feature you.” They’re like, you know what? There’s tools out there. Let me do it. ArnieTex has done it.
And then you have small mom-and-pop shops and small taquerias winning big prizes like chef Ana Liz Pulido. And then we also talked about storytelling, you know, the history of vaqueros and breakfast tacos.
We got a little spooky with the podcast Susto as well, right? And so part of that wraps around like this idea around what food does through storytelling. And what people are able to do with that.
And so just reflecting on the last season, we’ve been digging a little bit deeper and deeper and deeper into some of these stories. And I’m proud to showcase those and use even my own platform to share the stories.
