MEET THE

CHEF

Avner Samuel, Chef/Owner of the former award-winning restaurants, AURORA and NOSH, has been featured in numerous publications including, Gourmet Magazine, New York Times, Restaurant Hospitality, Esquire Magazine, Men’s Health, Time Magazine, Texas Monthly and The Dallas Morning News, illuminating his illustrious career in the culinary arts.

Born in Israel and the eldest son of seven children, he began cooking in a commercial kitchen at the age of thirteen. In 1975, Chef Samuel graduated from the prestigious Tadmor School of Culinary Arts in Jerusalem. Following that, he spent five years training in France at the renowned La Varenne School of Culinary Arts in Paris and Lenotre Culinary School in Plaisir.

He apprenticed in numerous restaurants before moving to the United States in 1980 where he served as Executive Sous Chef of Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Florida. In 1981, Mr. Samuel moved to Dallas, Texas to become the Executive Chef of the newly opened The Mansion on Turtle Creek. The youngest Executive Chef in America, he led an award-winning kitchen with innovative menus earning the Mansion a 5 Star Rating.

During his four-and-a-half-year tenure as the Executive Chef of The Mansion, Chef Samuel worked with some of the most talented chefs in the industry. Among them was the renowned Wolfgang Puck who served as Consulting Chef for Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. It was also during this time that he made a splash on the American culinary scene as one of the pioneers of Southwest Cuisine. He was recognized as one of the “Gang of Five,” an elite group of Texas chefs which included: Avner Samuel, Stephan Pyles, Dean Fearing, Robert Del Grande and Anne Lindsay Greer.

In 1985, Rosewood asked Chef Samuel to open their newest Dallas property, The Crescent Court Hotel, where he served on the Executive Committee and was Executive Chef. He later became the Executive Chef of the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas for four years. In 1991, he moved to London to reopen the newly renovated Churchill Hotel London where he created a sensation with his genius menus earning rave reviews.

Chef Samuel then decided to return to Dallas to open his first restaurant, Avner’s On McKinney, which was named to Esquire Magazine’s list of the “Ten Best New Restaurants in America” in 1993. Two years later he added the critically acclaimed Yellow to his list of fine restaurants. 

In 1998, he opened his highly lauded Bistro A, which was named to the Dallas Morning News list of the “10 Best New Restaurants” for that year.

When he opened his “dream restaurant” Aurora, in August 2003, The Dallas Morning News claimed it was the “farthest reaching, most daring restaurant”  to open that year,  and Aurora was awarded 5 Stars as well as the “number one best new restaurant.” Local and National media attention focused quickly, with Gourmet Magazine writing that Aurora is “where to eat right now in 30 American cities,” and Men’s Health stating that Aurora is “one of 11 restaurants, worldwide, that mean business.”

September of 2010, seven years later, Chef Samuel transformed Aurora into Nosh, a European style bistro, significantly more casual than Aurora with the focus being on value.  “The best food at the best price…with wine to match” is the intention of Nosh.   The accolades began pouring in from local media with Nosh being awarded 4 Stars and “Top New Restaurants of 2010” by the Dallas Morning News and “Top New Restaurants in Texas” by Texas Monthly magazine.

In August of 2019, Chef Samuel opened Nosh Bistro, his seventeenth restaurant and the fourth iteration of Nosh in Preston Hollow. It was voted one of the “Best New Restaurants of 2019” by Thrillist and “Restaurant Opening of the Year” by the Dallas Voice. Best Chefs America, of which Chef Samuel is a recipient, said Nosh Bistro was “One of the hottest new restaurants in the country.” USA TODAY 10BEST featured Nosh Bistro as one of best restaurants. Currently, Chef Samuel cooks privately for clients and is a Chef Culinary Consultant.

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