In a year that has seen Dallas -- and Texas in general -- grow increasingly prominent on the national food scene, the city has picked up its greatest accolade so far.

Today, Bon Appetit named Dallas its 2019 Restaurant City of the Year in a story that declares (with a bit of a wince): "Texas' oft-skipped food destination is no longer skippable." Past winners include Portland, Maine (2018), Chicago (2017), Washington, D.C. (2016) and San Francisco (2015).

Deputy editor Julia Kramer picked Dallas after visiting more than 200 restaurants in 34 cities across the country, seeking a place with an expansive dining scene that's defining itself through food in a way it hasn't before. Dallas, she said in an effusive email on Wednesday, is finally shaking off its reputation as a "one-note, big-box, steakhouse town."

"I was blown away by nearly every place I visited," she said. "There was a real energy in the food scene. Donny Sirisavath at Khao Noodle Shop and Misti Norris (whose cooking I loved at Small Brewpub a few years back) at Petra and the Beast really exemplify that creative energy and distinctive vision. There are no other restaurants in the country like those two places!"

Kramer's research also yielded 50 nominees for the publication's Best New Restaurants in America, announced earlier this week, which included Petra and Khao. After Kramer went on maternity leave earlier this year, associate editor Hilary Cadigan completed the Dallas research.

Pork loin with pickled pecans at Petra and the Beast (Daniel Carde / Staff Photographer)

In today's story, Cadigan, who was born in Kessler Park, provides a food-lover's tour of the city, focusing on restaurants that are intensely personal expressions of their time and place, and the personalities behind them. She marvels over Sirisavath's "artful yet technically pristine riffs on the Laotian food he grew up eating" (and incorrectly states that he makes all his noodles from scratch - in fact he buys almost all of them from Dong Thap Rice Noodle Factory in Garland). And she praises the "butchery and fermentation playground" at Petra for being "unlike any other restaurant in the city, or really ... anywhere."

Then it's on to Macellaio, Ceviche Oyster Bar and Revelers Hall in Bishop Arts; mezcal specialists Las Almas Rotas, Ruins and La Viuda Negra; modern Mexican restaurants José, Jalisco Norte and Miriam Cocina Latina, plus Midnight Rambler bar in the Joule hotel, Sandwich Hag and Nori Handroll Bar. She also ventures to three spots in Richardson: DFW China Town, Bilad Bakery and BigDash.

A seasonal aguachile with peach at José (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

"What's cool about Dallas is, it's not homogeneous," said Cadigan, who was aided in her research by Dallas Observer critic Brian Reinhart and Indian-ish author and Dallas native Priya Krishna. "It's a great example of a city that's developing at its own pace in so many different ways. It's individual, but also coming together in a way that meshes quite well."

Among the noteworthy omissions from the story are Homewood, Matt McCallister's progressive four-star restaurant (Cadigan's last visit was in June), the Market at Bonton Farms, Peja Krstic's inventive Vietnamese restaurant Mot Hai Ba, glitzier restaurants such as Bullion, the Charles or Beverley's, ramen or Japanese restaurants -- and, of course, any barbecue and steakhouses.

Bon Appetit's City of the Year announcement caps off 12 months in which the rest of the country finally caught up with Dallas' dynamic food scene. In July, Eater named Khao one of its 16 Best New Restaurants in America, the first time a Dallas restaurant made the list since it began in 2015.

In April, Food and Wine named Misti Norris one of the best new chefs of 2019, the only Texas chef among a group of 10 that included Junghyun Park of Atomix in New York City and Brandon Go of Hayato in Los Angeles.

Before that, Norris was also among Esquire magazine's Best New Restaurants in America, a James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist for best new restaurant in the U.S., and the subject of a long feature in Food and Wine.

Mitchell Davis, chief strategy officer of the James Beard Foundation, agrees that Texas as a whole is having a moment among the national food press after a history of being overlooked. That includes the James Beard awards, where Texas was completely shut out this year.

Like Kramer and Cadigan, Davis expressed surprise at the food scene he encountered in Texas. "So interesting, so diverse, so quirky, so eccentric!" he said. Beyond the level of restaurants, Davis points to a few other reasons Texas is on the national radar: The pride that Texans take in their food, the degree to which it defines Texan identity and culture, and the state's vigorous food media.

"A lot of cities have rich and dynamic restaurant communities, but you also need someone to tell the stories," Davis said. "The rise of Texas media is one of reasons attention is coming to Texas, in a moment when local media is disappearing all around."

Indeed, the San Francisco Chronicle's Soleil Ho recently wrote a column bemoaning the fact that she is now the city's only restaurant critic. In comparison, Dallas has three dedicated restaurant critics, plus numerous restaurant-focused websites and a thriving state publication that takes food seriously, Texas Monthly.

In 2013, the magazine made waves when it hired Daniel Vaughn as barbecue editor, and his list of Top 50 Barbecue Joints is one of the most trafficked features on the site, executive editor Kathy Blackwell said. Notably, 40 percent of those barbecue-list readers are from out of state.

This week, the magazine announced it had created a new position - taco editor - and hired Dallas food writer and Taco Trail blogger José R. Ralat for the job. The approach was created in the Vaughn mold, Blackwell said, of covering not only great things to eat, but also the history, people and culture behind them.

The new taco editor quickly put more eyes on the Texas food scene, with a long feature in The New York Times and on ABC News, with more national press to come, Blackwell said.

"José is an important hire for us," she said. "A lot of people are having fun with the idea, but in all seriousness, you have to know this stuff. Expertise is really important. As far as how people see us, it's so easy to draw on stereotypes, and that's another reason it's important to delve into tacos and Tex-Mex more than we have. I don't want to sound pretentious, but food is such a wonderful way to look at the best of us."

On the other side of the country, Davis of the Beard Foundation concurred.

“At 10,000 feet, there’s a kind of big, 10-gallon Texas identity that we all know,” Davis said. “But it’s so big, it leaves so much room for so much else to blossom beneath it.”