At Texas’ first Michelin ceremony, which named the best restaurants in the state in 2024, a glitzy Houston ballroom was full of some of Dallas’ top chefs.
Noticeably missing was chef Dean Fearing, one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s most tenured chefs and a charismatic mentor to many in the room.
“We kept waiting for the invitation. And the invitation never came to me,” said the chef-owner of Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas.
So instead of going to Texas’ inaugural Michelin ceremony, he flew to Hawaii.
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Dallas chef Dean Fearing runs Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Chef Roy Yamaguchi was hosting a food festival, and he’d invited Fearing to come. There was a second reason Fearing wanted to get out of town, too: He wanted a distraction. For more than 40 years, Fearing had built menus of Southwest cuisine, proving himself an influential chef at Dallas’ Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, at Fearing’s and beyond. Michelin recently named Fearing as one of five notable chefs in Dallas.
Fearing wanted to be at the Michelin ceremony. Heck, every high-achieving Texas chef did.
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Fearing was sitting on a white-sand beach in Honolulu when his phone started ringing.
“You just got announced,” his wife told him.
Indeed, Michelin named Fearing’s as one of 20 Recommended restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s not a Michelin star, but it’s a great accolade from the secretive Michelin critics.
“What do you mean?” Fearing asked his wife. “We didn’t get an invitation.”
His world stood still for a moment. His phone rang again. Fearing’s publicists urged him to look back through his emails as the Michelin ceremony continued on.
“And sure enough … there it was,” the chef said.
He did get an invitation to the Michelin ceremony. It went to his junk folder. But alas, he was 4,000 miles away.
The honor still stands, even though Fearing couldn’t accept his award in person. The 28 North Texas restaurants named at the 2024 Michelin Guide Texas ceremony get to keep their accolades for one year. Then, they’re erased on Oct. 28, 2025, when a new Michelin ceremony announces the next crop of winners. The Dallas Morning News will report those results in real time.
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Fearing’s caper is a reminder to any chef hoping to receive an invitation: Check your spam folder.
“Oh boy was I embarrassed,” Fearing said. But it made for a great story.
Plus, he said, “it wasn’t bad being on a beach.”
The Michelin Guide Texas ceremony is the evening of Oct. 28, 2025, in Houston. The Dallas Morning News will publish results at dallasnews.com/michelin. Be sure you’re signed up for our food newsletter to get a list of Michelin Texas winners in real time.