Fab Five These chefs are fueling the future of Dallas’ culinary scene. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG D allas has had plenty of big chef names over the years, with big personalities to match. Surnames like Rathbun, Badovinus, Pyles, Fearing and Tesar are part of Dallas culinary lore, and have inspired countless of other chefs in their culinary journeys. And today, chefs like Misti Norris, Peja Kristic, Anastacia Qui- nones-Pittman and David Uygur have given us restau- rants we love, with newcomers such as R.J. Yoakum of Georgie, Tatsuya Sekiguchi of Tatsu or Toby Archibald of Quarter Acre who are writing the next chapter of Dallas’ dining history as we speak. Chances are, the next big name in Dallas’ culinary canon is already plying their trade in Dallas. And for this feature, we wanted to shine a light on these up and comers. By no means is this list exhaustive - Dallas is too big, and surely there are too many talented chefs working in near anonymity to cover them all. But with these five, we’ve had a chance to try their dishes, and came away impressed every time. We can’t wait to see what their futures hold. Mollie Guerra, private chef Whenever there’s a food event where we see Mollie Guer- ra’s name on the menu, we know we’re in for something spe- cial. Guerra tells us that she always loved cooking, but it was her appearance as a contestant on season ten of Master Chef that prompted her to leave the corporate world and embrace her culinary dreams full time. Since that time, we’ve tried Guerra’s dishes at events like Chefs for Farmers, Art of Food, and the Dallas Arboretum, and always come away impressed with her culinary cre- ations, like a recent mole bison filet that still sits front and center in our dreams. Guerra’s primary gig as a private chef has taken her across the country to cater meals for racing teams in the World Racing League, SRO and IMSA series, but she still finds plenty of work in Dallas as well. While your current best bet to sample Guerra’s dishes is to watch for her name in any number of local food festivals (or hire her for your own private dinner), keep an eye out for her name to pop up attached to a new restaurant in Dallas later this year. Belal Kattan, Georgie Simply put, Belal Kattan loves pasta. “There’s something I cant explain about it when I’m mak- ing it,” Kattan tells us. “It’s the reason I even started cooking.” You can almost taste the adoration that Kattan has for pasta in any of his dishes. Before we knew his name, we were smitten with Kattan’s pasta when he worked on the line at Cry Wolf, and we asked chef de cuisine Mike Stites for his name. Currently, you can sample Kattan’s love of the noodle at Georgie, where he’s been boosting their pasta program since Cry Wolf closed in 2023. When he’s not working at Georgie, Kattan plies his trade in the private dinners and pop-ups circuit, where his creative layering of flavors, colors and textures have a chance to shine in smaller settings. Kattan also donates his time and skills to cooking events for non-profit organizations like Profound Foods’ Barn Rais- ing dinner series and Independence Gardens, providing Dal- las diners with another avenue to experience his growing skillset. Diana Zamora, Nena Postreria This list of restaurants where Diana Zamora has spent time makes for an impressive resume. Stock & Barrel. Coupe’s. Cry Wolf. Pillar. Certainly we’re forgetting several, and that doesn’t even cover the partner collaborations she’s done with restaurants over the years. But Zamora’s passion project has always been Nena Postreria, the bakery inspired by reci- pes from Zamora’s late mother that we’ve covered previ- ously in the pages of the Observer. Zamora’s latest avenue to keep the Nena Postreria dream alive is a collaboration with Tejas BBQ, the east Dallas barbe- cue operation from Antonio Guevara and Tifany Swulius. On Fridays and Saturdays, Tejas BBQ provides the meats, and Zamora is crushing out the baked goods, for a combinations like a smoked and fried chicken cutlet on a buttermilk biscuit doused with hot honey that shames anything Chik-Fil-A pumps out. Mollie Guerra Sonia Mancias, Via Triozzi Chris Wolfgang Courtesy of Via Triozzi DALLAS OBSERVER • CRAVE 2025 9
