Arjav Ezekiel Wins First Austin James Beard Award for Beverage at Birdie's

Arjav Ezekiel capped a remarkable four-year run as co-owner of Birdie’s Monday night by winning the James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Beverage Service Professional. It is the first time an Austin restaurant professional has won the prestigious national award.

Writing from Chicago, where the awards ceremony was held, Ezekiel told the American-Statesman that the win "says to people that hospitality conquers all."

Ezekiel and his wife, chef Tracy Malachek-Ezekiel, a Beard finalist last year for Best Chef in Texas, opened Birdie’s on East 12th Street in Austin in 2021, disrupting the Austin restaurant industry by serving white-table-cloth level food and wine service in a casual environment built around counter service.

Malachek-Ezekiel's uncomplicated but layered food, a blend of Italian grandmother with refined French technique, is made for wine drinking. Ezekiel, a seasoned sommelier with a resume that includes time as a manager at Untitled and Gramercy Tavern in New York City, bops around the dining room and courtyard to make sure guests are getting the most from his sprawling list of low-intervention wines, whether that be a Coteaux Champenois or a rare Schiopettino. He also collects ports the way some people do baseball cards, except he’ll pop the tops and share, as you make your way into soft-serve drizzled with olive oil or a chocolate torta Tenerina.

The New Delhi-born Ezekiel was raised in Portland after his family immigrated to the United States in 1999. He shared his story, one of living as an undocumented worker before earning protection in 2012 from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, with the New York Times in the summer of 2024.

"I decided I would do the restaurant thing, and do it as hard as I could at the highest level," Ezekiel told the Times of his decision to forego ambitions of a career in law or international politics in order to avoid complications due to his legal status.

The restaurant was named Best New Restaurant in Austin by the American-Statesman in 2021; tied for Best Restaurant in the city in 2024; and was named the Restaurant of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine in 2023.

The restaurant recently moved to a prix fixe model that the married owners says allows them to flex their creativity in the small space while still providing a high quality of life to their small staff.

"I hope this means more opportunities for us as a restaurant to make an impact both with our voices and perspective, and indeed, the business model," Ezekiel told the American-Statesman.

Ezekiel was the only Austin finalist in the awards given annually to the top food and beverage professionals in the country. The Best Chef: Texas honor this year went to Thomas Billie of Belly of the Beast, a modern Mexican restaurant in Spring.