BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo is considered to be one of the world's best "food cities" and now has more bragging rights after two restaurants made it to the "2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards" semi-finals.
The "James Beard Awards" recognize talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, and media realm.
7 News' Pheben Kassahun heard from both restaurants, Southern Junction and Waxlight Bar A' Vin, which happen to be within five miles of each other.
Real foodies know when in search of a restaurant that has the "it" factor, things to look for are taste, ambiance, customer service and sometimes if it benefits a good cause.
Those two restaurants in Buffalo embody that, according to the "James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards". The notable award was established in 1990 after iconic American chef, James Beard.
"We were lucky enough to be nominated last year as well for this, so to be two years in a row, it's pretty humbling and a pretty amazing feeling for our restaurant group," Tony Rials explained.
Rials is a partner and bartender at Waxlight Bar A' Vin, on Chandler Street.
Created by five friends in the food and drink industry, in late 2019, the restaurant is a mix of contemporary and French-influenced cuisine.
"On our dessert menu right now, we have a cheesecake. It's a bass-style cheesecake so it's really lush, almost like an oozy goodness to it and we play around with different apéritifs and digestifs that go along with it," Rials added.
Waxlight Bar A' Vin is one of 20 restaurants across America to make it as a semi-finalist as an "Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program" this year.
Just about ten minutes away on Connecticut Street sits Southern Junction.
Owner and pit master Ryan Fernandez said here is where you will find Indian dishes like biryani with a Texas-style to it.
Southern Junction owner and pit master Ryan Fernandez said, "It's Texas barbecue with a Southwest Indian influence on it. I'm from Texas and I moved up here a few years ago. I've just been barbecuing on the side. We had a takeout spot on Chandler Street."
The rest is history.
The restaurant which opened just a few weeks after Waxlight has been nominated to have "Emerging Chef", which only 20 chefs across the nation made the semi-finalists list.
Fernandez added, "It's pretty wild just because we are so new in this space. We're still feeling it out. We're still getting our feet wet in here, so I couldn't even begin to imagine that we'd be secret-shopped or even be on a radar."
Nominees will be announced on April 3.
Winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 10, in Chicago.
