Local author claims James Beard Media Award. Restaurant, chef awards remain elusive in San Antonio.

On a night when the food industry Oscars again overlooked San Antonio restaurants and chefs, a local cookbook author and blogger celebrated a James Beard Media Award.

Dora Ramírez won a Beard on Saturday for her book, “Comida Casera: More than 100 Vegan Recipes, from Traditional to Modern Mexican Dishes,” in the Vegetable-Focused Cooking category.

A former personal chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Ramírez expressed shock on her Instagram page.

“I can’t believe it!!!” she wrote this past weekend. “I’m an @beardfoundation award winner!”

Ramírez is a recipe developer and photographer for her blog, dorastable.com. She left the food industry at age 25 to become a self-described stay-at-home-mom. She has three children with special needs.

“When I stopped working in restaurants to start a family, I thought my career was over,” Ramírez said in her acceptance speech June 13 at the Art Institute of Chicago. “So I want to dedicate this award to all the hard-working moms out there, especially the moms of special-needs children and my beautiful mom, Dora.”

Two nights later at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, two San Antonio finalists with culinary acclaim left without a Beard.

Progressive Mexican culinaria Mixtli, winner of a Michelin star in 2024 and 2025, lost in the Outstanding Restaurant category for the third time. This year’s award went to Kalaya in Philadelphia.

Tavel Bristol-Joseph, whose Nicosi Dessert Bar earned a Michelin star last year, lost in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category to Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit in Washington, D.C.

Bristol-Joseph earned James Beard nominations for Best Chef: Texas in 2023 and 2024 for his work at Canje, a modern Caribbean restaurant in Austin.

Mixtli has earned multiple Beard nominations. It was a finalist for Outstanding Hospitality last year. Founders Diego Galicia and Rico Torres were semifinalists for Best Chef: Southwest in 2018. Mixtli also earned Outstanding Restaurant nominations in 2022 and 2024.

After Monday’s awards ceremony, Galicia thanked the James Beard Foundation “for yet another nomination” on his Instagram feed.

“Congratulations to all of our fellow nominees and winners!!,” he wrote. “Especially all the friends representing Houston! Until next time .. maybe 4th time is a charm? Only time and hard work will tell. Adios!”

Like Galicia, Ramírez grew up in Mexico. According to a YouTube video posted on her website, she ate skirt steak tacos in her family’s restaurant and dreamed of opening her own restaurant in New York City.

After graduating from the CIA, Ramírez worked in hotel restaurants. She was offered a job as a sous chef only to learn she was pregnant. She left the business to raise her child. Seven years into motherhood, she started a blog, “the perfect outlet,” she said, “for my culinary frustrations.”

Ramírez posted recipes and took photos of her dishes. The blog’s popularity led her to teach cooking classes and work as a personal chef.

A personal health crisis led Ramírez to becoming a vegan. When her mother developed diabetes, Ramírez began cooking vegan enchiladas. Her mother devoured them.

“So if my mom was willing to give it a try,” Ramírez said in her YouTube video, “how many more Mexican mamas could be willing to do the same?”

Ramírez rebranded her blog to “vegan Mexican.” She heard from an organization looking for a vegan bilingual food photographer and recipe developer.

A work-from-home life turned. A cookbook career was born. And then, to her astonishment, a James Beard Media Award followed — the first food industry Oscar for San Antonio.