Over the past few weeks, we've dedicated a special editorial series to the 2024 CultureMap Fort Worth Tastemaker Awards, our annual event celebrating the best in Fort Worth food and drink. We'v profiled nominees in categories such as pastry chef, bars, and best restaurants.

Now we have arrived at our final category: Chef of the Year.

Long hours, physically and mentally taxing, and often with little praise or recognition, being a chef is not for the weary. No matter the menu type or the size of the restaurant, the challenges are many - but all 10 of these Fort Worth chefs make things look easy and provide us some of the most delicious cuisine in Fort Worth.

Who’ll be crowned the best of the best? Find out at the our reveal party and signature tasting event, happening Thursday, May 2 at the 4 Eleven (411 S. Main St.). Hurry and get tickets before they officially sell out.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the 10 nominees for Chef of the Year:

Landon Cabarubio, Pizza Verde
Running a vegan restaurant in a city nicknamed Cowtown is a challenge, but Landon Cabarubio is up for it – and thriving while he’s at it. His two-year-old vegan pizza joint, Pizza Verde, draws carnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike simply because the food is that good. Cararubio makes his own almond-based mozzarella and thin crust dough and uses high-quality, flavorful, plant-based ingredients. Cauliflower crusts are also available – a popular choice not only for vegans but those on a Whole30 or low-carb meal plan. Cararubio started the concept with his wife Jennifer by first hosting pop-ups around town. Fort Worth diners proved they were ready for a permanent Pizza Verde, and Cararubio delivered.

Rodrigo Cárdenas, Don Artemio
Born into a culinary family – his mother a pastry chef and his dad touted as the “king of cabrito” in Saltillo, Mexico – Cardenas was destined for a career in gastronomy. As the executive chef of the nationally lauded Don Artemio, Cardenas has taken the reins as the face of the kitchen in recent months. He catapulted into the national spotlight after Don Artemio was nominated as one of the top 10 best new restaurants in the country by the James Beard Foundation last year, and he was a big player in this year’s Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival, appearing at multiple events. Recognition runs in the family; his father was named Chef of the Year at the 2023 CultureMap Fort Worth Tastemaker Awards.

Graham Elliot, Le Margot, F1 Smokehouse
TV celeb chef and two-time Michelin star recipient Graham Elliot relocated to Fort Worth to fulfill a desire to get back into the day-to-day bustle, joining chef and restaurateur Felipe Armenta and his Far Out Hospitality Group in 2022. They've since launched a slew of new restaurants at breakneck speed: Cowboy Prime, a high-end steakhouse in Midland (with plans for a Fort Worth Stockyards location; Le Margot, the splashy French fine dining destination that harkens Moulin Rouge in design and atmosphere; and F1 Smokehouse, an upscale spinoff of Armenta’s barbecue food truck that they opened in September 2023. Elliot has his hand in all of it, from creating the menus, designing websites, and his favorite, being in the kitchen.

Mark Hitri, Paris 7th
Longtime Fort Worthians will remember Mark Hitri as part of the opening team behind Sapristi, the beloved Forest Park Boulevard bistro and wine bar. Others will recall he once led the kitchen at Bernard Tronche’s Saint-Emilion. Still others may know him from his years as a chef instructor at The Culinary School of Fort Worth; he was an integral part of taking the school to a more professional level, attracting career-driven students. In 2022, his desire to return to the restaurant kitchen led to his current role as executive chef and partner at Paris 7th, where he’s earned a loyal following of customers seeking an elevated, intimate dining experience they can always count on being consistent – and delicious.

Gigi Howell, Margie's Italian Gardens, JD’s Hamburgers, Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina
With a contagious smile and can-do attitude, Gigi Howell exudes Fort Worth hospitality – just ask anyone who’s ever met her. The busy Cowtown native wears a lot of chef hats – one for J.D.’s Hamburgers, which she opened in the Westland area in far West Fort Worth in 2022; one for Margie’s Italian Gardens, located next to JD’s and reopening by summer under her leadership; West Side Café, another longtime eatery she helped take over last year; and soon, a reincarnated Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina. Howell has a long history in Fort Worth restaurants with tenure at Reata, Park Hill Café, and Celebration. She’s now known for her knack for breathing new life into time-honored concepts.

Grant Morgan, 97 West Kitchen & Bar
Specializing in Texas cuisine with a focus on local purveyors, Morgan has cooked for celebs from Cameron Diaz and Clint Eastwood. Prior to joining the high-profile Hotel Drover in the Fort Worth Stockyards when it opened in 2021, Morgan gained experience at some of hospitality’s biggest destinations, including Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa, Le Cirque at Bellagio Las Vegas, Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa in Dallas, and The Ranch at Las Colinas. He was nominated to cook as a guest chef at the renowned James Beard House in New York City, and today oversees the entire culinary program for Hotel Drover’s restaurants, bars, and banquet events.

Preston Paine, Emilia's, The Blue Room
Paine has experience in fine dining establishments like Eleven Madison Park in New York City and most recently worked for Exxir Hospitality in Bishop Arts, but it’s at The Crescent Hotel where he gets to really show off. Paine oversees two hotel restaurants: Emilia’s – one of 16 nominees for Best New Restaurant of the Year – and The Blue Room, an opulent fine dining experience featuring New American dishes with next-level presentation not found anywhere else in Fort Worth. Paine’s restaurant philosophy: refined food, detailed service, and encouraging guests to linger over a meal with loved ones.

Marcus Paslay, Walloon's, Provender Hall, Piatello Italian Kitchen, Clay Pigeon Food & Drink
Since opening Clay Pigeon Food & Drink 10 years ago, Marcus Paslay – who’s cooked everywhere from Alaska to Hawaii – has cranked out restaurants with the same quiet poise and quality, the latest being Walloon’s. The West Magnolia Avenue destination is his ode to seafood and the eclectic vibe of the Near Southside. Think oysters Rockefeller, redfish beignets, and Louisiana barbecue shrimp. Paslay maintains loyal followings at his more tenured concepts, including Piatello Italian Kitchen and Provender Hall, and recently took ownership of time-honored Tex-Mex favorite, Mercado Juarez.

John Piccolino, B&B Butchers & Restaurant
A Pittsburgh native with a spunky, amiable personality, B&B Butchers executive chef John Piccolino has more than 40 years of experience in the cutthroat high-end restaurant industry. His resume includes opening the Atlantis Hotel & Casino, the New York Hilton, and overseeing the kitchen at Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton. Before he joined the team at B&B, Piccolino spent lots of time in Vegas as the executive chef of Smith & Wollensky and McCormick and Schmick’s. Upscale steakhouses are his vibe, and he’s made Fort Worth his home for feeding his passion.

Patrick Ru, Teddy Wong’s
Master dumpling chef Patrick Ru, who has a following from New York to Hong Kong, has turned a tiny shell of a West Rosedale Street restaurant and convenience store into an upscale dining destination and one of the most sought-after reservations in town. Teddy Wong’s has been red hot since opening last fall, drawing hard-to-tap diners from West Fort Worth for handmade dumplings not previously found in such variety, quantity, and quality in Fort Worth. The addition of an extensive wine, beer, and sake list add to the charm, along with neatly set tables with black tablecloths. Teddy Wong’s is a spinoff of Ru’s Bushi Bushi Dim Sum in Addison, which drew diners from Fort Worth and led Ru to partner with Fort Worth restaurateur Jeffrey Yarbrough on the successful project.