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Chef Joe Murphy of Houston’s Nobu Takes TruffleMasters Top Honor

But the People’s Choice winner is a real stunner

A serving cup on a platter with a spoon holds black truffle grilled rice with parmesan dashi and wagyu lardon.
The 2023 TruffleMasters winning dish from Nobu’s Joe Murphy.
Phaedra Cook
Courtney E. Smith is the editor of Eater Dallas. She's a journalist of 20 years who was born and raised in Texas, with bylines in Pitchfork, Wired, Esquire, Yahoo!, Salon, Refinery29, and more. When she's not writing about food, she co-hosts the podcast Songs My Ex Ruined.

Dozens of Houston chefs competed, but there can only be one winner. The 2023 TruffleMasters competition went to Nobu’s Joe Murphy, who created a dish featuring black truffle grilled rice with parmesan dashi and wagyu lardon. That decadent-sounding dish was selected for the night’s top honor by a body of judges including food writers from the Houston Chronicle, Texas Monthly, the Houston Press, Houstonia, Chron.com, Central Market, and more.

The second place dish came from Greg Shade and Brandon Jolley-Samples and the team from Masraff’s, who created a truffled-cured, smoked Texas wagyu short rib with Kennebec mille-feuille, earthnut potato mousse, and a truffle haystack. And the final nod was given to Russell Kirkham of Artisans with a plate of foie gras iced cream with truffled Chantilly.

A dinner plate with a gold fork holds a potato stack, wagyu shortrib, and truffles.
The truffle entry from Masraff; a truffled cured, smoked Texas wagyu short rib with Kennebec Mille-Feuille, Earthnut potato mousse, and a truffle haystack.
Phaedra Cook
A black bowl holds ice cream and truffles.
Artisans takes the final honor with foie gras iced cream with truffled Chantilly.
Phaedra Cook

The people also got a vote at TruffleMasters, and they chose Mayank Istwal of Musaafer’s Angus Kachila Puri with diced filet, truffle paste, cilantro, coconut, avocado, and lemon zest.

A serving tray holds Angus Kachila Puri with truffle paste and garnish.
The People’s Choice winner at TruffleMasters 2023.
Phaedra Cook