Small Region, Big Chance

San Antonio chef makes national cooking show final with regional dishes

Jon Hinojosa is one of three home chefs competing for the win on The Great American Recipe. (Pictured: Hinojosa's al pastor tacos.)

Jon Hinojosa/Instagram

San Antonio local Jon Hinojosa has made it to the final round of PBS' The Great American Recipe; that means he's one of three home cooks vying for the Season 3 win, and he's doing it through Mexican cuisine.

The final episode airs Monday, August 12, on KLRN with Hinojosa going up against Adjo Honsou from St. Louis, Missouri, and Marcella DiChiara from Franklin, Massachusetts. The national competition focuses on regional cuisine, so contestants are able to reflect their hometowns on a larger stage.

Hinojosa was previously the founding director of Say Sí, a youth arts nonprofit that works on providing creative opportunities within marginalized communities. The home chef is still based in San Antonio, but he's from El Paso; he's represented both places over the arc of the competition by focusing on Mexican cuisine and the further diversity within it.

He showed off tacos al pastor and esquites (Mexican street corn), El Paso-style chile rellenos and polvorones (Mexican wedding cookies), and a dish he called "abuelita food" on the show, which was picadillo-based. The latter was Hinojosa's final effort before advancing to the finale.

Viewers may learn something from Hinojosa on the show, and he's active on social media helping followers learn how to make the dishes he chose to showcase.

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"It truly is a delight to have watched [Jon's] journey, and the food is even tastier than it was before," said judge Tiffany Derry in the semi-final episode, which aired the night of August 5.

The finale of The Great American Recipe, during which Hinojosa may clinch the win, will air August 12 at 8 pm online or on channel 9.1. Past episodes from this and prior seasons are available at pbs.org. Season 3 is still free to watch, and Seasons 1 and 2 are available to PBS donors.

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NYT loves AUS

Pastry chef from San Antonio makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery by San Antonio native Mariela Camacho, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; Camacho, who is now based in Ausitn, won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Although Camacho was born in San Antonio and started her baking career there, she also spent a significant time in Seattle, Washington, where Comadre started as a pop-up. According to Austin Monthly, she then moved back to San Antonio, and then to Austin. But no matter where she is, the Mexican cooking traditions of her ancestors take precedent.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

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