Angela Hernandez, opening executive chef at Fine China and the director of culinary operations at the Statler Hotel, will leave Dallas next week and move to Austin to take on a job with McGuire Moorman Hospitality. The group owns several restaurants in Austin and will soon be opening one in Aspen, Colorado.
Hernandez, who is from Austin, cites family as a priority. “I’ve been traveling for 15 years,” she says, referring to her time both in New York and in Dallas, where she opened Top Knot in 2016. The eclectic modern Asian spot, where Hernandez brought in her Korean and Latin American backgrounds, earned a spot on my D Magazine Best New Restaurants list that year, and Fine China, her modern Chinese destination for dim sum and Cantonese roast duck, cinched a spot on my list this year, despite some inconsistencies. Since Graham Dodds’ departure from the Statler in October, Hernandez has absorbed his responsibilities.
Joining a well-established group in Austin as corporate chef de cuisine will allow Hernandez to work on a diverse portfolio that will include the popular Elizabeth Street Café as well as new openings.
“We’ve been working on chef movements for the past month and a half or so [at the Statler],” Hernandez says. Josh Bonee, with whom Hernandez developed the opening menu at Fine China, will take over that restaurant. The dim sum team is losing its principal lead to the Statler’s diner Overeasy. However, “nothing drastic is going to shift or change,” Hernandez says. Recently, the team created a char sui duck bao and is working on various shapes to keep Fine China a destination for contemporary dim sum. Meanwhile, the focus in the past month and a half has been on honing lunch and brunch services.
In parting, Hernandez says she feels Dallas is at an interesting point, culinarily. “Misti [Norris of Petra & the Beast] and chef David Uygur [of Macellaio]. It’s cool to see Joel [Orsini] doing his thing at Izkina. I’m kinda bummed I’m missing Justin Holt’s opening [of Salaryman, a chef-driven ramen shop]. I’m glad to have had the experiences and support that I’ve had since I’ve been here. Everyone was super embracing.” It is not surprising to note that two of her compatriots—Norris and Uygur—are also on the Best New Restaurants list. And I have written about Orsini’s prolific work in a Deep Ellum hostel in last month’s dining review. It is a tight-knit gang of culinary innovation.
