Lone Star Tapas Showdown in San Antonio to feature 8 chefs competing for global recognition

Eight Texas chefs aim to win the newest and most intriguing cooking competition in Texas: The Lone Star Tapas Showdown.

The winner on Sunday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center claims more than a trophy. The triumphant chef secures an all-expense paid trip to Mexico to compete in the Tapas North America Championship and perhaps a spot in Spain’s World Tapas Competition in November.

Now for the intrigue: The showdown at noon requires chefs to create a single tapa for five tasting judges without spending more than $1.90 for their ingredients. The tapa has to be unpublished, meaning, it must never have appeared on a menu, blog, website or cookbook.

Now for more intrigue: The showdown is closed to the public. Yes, a featured event of the 89th annual Texas Restaurant Show will be held out of view. To attend, you must present a business card or paystub to prove you work in the food service or bar industry. To see coverage, follow @txrestaurantshow and other chef accounts on Instagram.

The inaugural showdown ends at 3 p.m. but the winner won’t be announced until the Texas Restaurant Awards begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Tobin Center. Tickets for the awards show are $210.25 and may be purchased here.

“Winning the Lone Star Tapas Showdown would mean proving that the flavors and stories of San Antonio belong on an international stage,” said Esencia’s executive chef Leo Davila, one of the competitors. “The opportunity to advance to Mexico, and potentially Spain, would allow me to introduce an international audience to my interpretation of Texas cuisine. I would be carrying San Antonio with me through every ingredient, every technique, every plate.”

The competition carries a strong local flavor. In addition to Davila, the field includes four area chefs: Tatu Herrera (The Desert Spoon) and Juan Carlos Bazan (Toro Kitchen + Bar) from San Antonio and Fernando Ortega, (ILOVEACEITE US) and Sofia Sada (Latin cuisine specialist) from Boerne.

The judging panel includes Mixtli chef Rico Torres, San Antonio Food Bank chef Geronimo Lopez and Morton Steakhouse chef Nick Snyder. The lead judge is Fernando Salazar from E-Spain, a primary organizer of the World Tapas Competition. Tapas will be judged on flavor, innovation, execution, presentation and storytelling.

“We literally created this event from March to June,” said Tony Abruscato, chief marketing officer for the Texas Restaurant Association. “We’re honored to be added to the mix as a pre-qualifier for the World Tapas Competition.”

Tapas are small Spanish appetizers, served hot, like shrimp in sizzling garlic oil, or cold, like gazpacho or jamón (cured ham). They can be simple (marinated olives) or elaborate (grilled octopus plated over creamy potato and truffle purée).

In Spain, tapas are served as small bites or larger, shareable portions. At the showdown, they will be prepared and judged as a single bite.

Bazan should be a top contender. He leads the culinary team at San Antonio’s best-known tapas destination, Toro Kitchen + Bar. Queso al horno (brie baked with herbs and honey on crostinis) and datiles al tocino and queso (bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with melted cheese) rank among Toro’s most popular tapas.

Bazan’s kitchen work impresses Davila.

“The tapas he creates at Toro have made an impact on the San Antonio scene,” Davila said. “His flavor profile and understanding of techniques is a joy to watch. It was an honor to be a UNESCO chef ambassador with him for two years. Last year at this time, we were in Macao, China, cooking together.”

The tapas showdown is the brainchild of Abruscato and Salazar. They created the concept in March. In April, the Texas Restaurant Association began promoting it through newsletters and social media channels. An undisclosed number of chefs applied with video presentations of original tapas. Eight finalists were notified of their selection on June 25.

Davila learned of the showdown as he was preparing to adjust his menu at Esencia.

“The competition came at the right time,” he said. “I was already working on small bites. It’s a great segue and opportunity to test out some ideas and see if people want to buy it.”

A two-time James Beard nominee, Davila will cook a squid ink quesadilla for judges. His tapa will feature a smoked wagyu short rib with roasted sweet potatoes, a house pickle and oaxaca cheese inside a jet-black, handmade tortilla.

The showdown is helping Davila craft a soon-to-be-released “impactful bites” menu, one that will feature tapas-style plates along with favorites like Big Red and barbacoa tacos, a kimchi stone pot and carne asada, torched table side.

“In this day and age, everyone is thinking about price and creating a bite that you can sell at an affordable price,” he said. “But our favorites are not going away.”

The showdown includes gifted culinarians outside San Antonio. David Guerrero apprenticed at Lima Peru’s Maido, the World’s Best Restaurant in 2025, before helming Andes Café, a South American restaurant in Houston. Gabriel Reyes finished second and third in tapas competitions in Spain before moving to Katy to lead Socarrat, a restaurant specializing in tapas, paellas and Mediterranean cuisine.

“This competition is bigger than one dish or one chef,” Davila said. “I would not view the win as the finish line. I would view it as another door opening that allows me to tell our story on a larger stage and bring that recognition back home to Texas, where it belongs.”