ThredUp acquires Remix for European expansion

ThredUp acquires Remix for European expansion

ThredUp Inc., one of the largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories, has begun its international expansion strategy by entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Remix Global AD, one of Europe’s leading fashion resale companies. The acquisition will accelerate ThredUP’s growth plans in Europe, where the secondhand market was estimated to be 21 billion dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow to 39 billion dollars by 2025. The news comes on the heels of strong domestic growth for ThredUP and Resale-as-a-Service expansion (Raas), including new deals with Vera Bradley, Farfetch, LG, and Madewell.

Much like ThredUP’s own proprietary operating platform, Remix has built custom ‘single-SKU’ logistics that can process millions of unique garments efficiently. With this acquisition, ThredUP adds a complementary operational infrastructure and an experienced management team to springboard its expansion into Europe. ThredUP plans to invest in Remix’s product offerings, processing infrastructure, and go-to-market strategy to accelerate its marketplace growth. Remix will operate as an independent business unit under the ThredUP umbrella, led by CEO Lyubomir Klenov. Klenov will lead ThredUP’s European expansion efforts as it continues to build out its presence across other key markets.

The Remix acquisition also allows ThredUP the potential to extend its RaaS platform beyond the United States, enabling brands and retailers to deliver customized resale experiences to their customers in Europe. A number of the world’s leading brands and retailers already rely on ThredUP’s RaaS platform to power their resale channels, and European expansion opens doors to potential future growth.

“Lyubomir and his team have built a strong, lean, customer-first business, and they know how to deliver resale operationally across multiple markets in Europe,” said James Reinhart, co-founder and CEO at ThredUP, in a statement. “We’re bullish about the massive opportunity in the European resale market and are thrilled about the chance to build on Remix’s technology and operational expertise to help accelerate its growth.”

“We’ve long admired ThredUP’s leadership in the United States and their dedication to building a mission-driven company that makes it easy to buy and sell secondhand,” said Klenov in a statement. “Together, I believe we can build upon Remix’s core operational engine, technology, and logistics to bring that scalable experience to the European market, where resale has only scratched the surface.”

The acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2021 and is subject to customary closing conditions and other deal specific closing conditions. The consideration is expected to be approximately 28.5 million dollars, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, and upon the closing ThredUP will also grant the Remix management team 6.5 million dollars in restricted stock units to vest over four years. Total revenue for Remix in calendar year 2020 was 33.9 million dollars, and ThredUP expects the acquisition to be accretive to its total revenue, dilutive to its gross margin and modestly accretive to its adjusted EBITDA in the near term. Goodwin Procter LLP and Kinstellar are acting as legal advisors to ThredUP.

Why the new era of British fashion is all about the factory

On the factory floor at Pittards in Yeovil, Marta, Gabbie and Gabriella are working together on a new product. They fasten strengthening layers to the leather base of a cylindrical handbag, attach a shiny brass zip, and handpaint seams so that the raw edges of the hide match the lipstick-red surface.

Pittards employs more than 150 people and does brisk business in baseball gloves, dog leads and walking boots, but the bag being made today comes with a waiting list and a £350 price tag. The Somerset Love bag, designed by Alice Temperley and named for the county where it is made, represents a new movement in the British fashion industry. Designers and models are beginning to share the spotlight with the people who actually make the clothes, bags and shoes.

Alice Temperley bags. ‘Working with Alice gives us visibility,’ says Pittards’ chief executive, Reg Hankey. Photograph: Alice Temperley

As consumer awareness grows around the environmental impact of fashion and the welfare of the world’s garment workers – the awareness that clothes do not appear in a puff of smoke, direct from a sketchpad and on to Kate Moss – scrutiny is shifting away from the designing of clothes and on to the making of them. Meanwhile, the benefits of shorter supply chains are challenging the centrifugal forces of globalisation, encouraging more fashion designers to switch to local manufacturing. The catwalk is so last season; the new era of British fashion is all about the factory.

Pittards, which began as a glove factory in 1826, is a solidly traditional establishment where desks with computers are outnumbered by those with ledgers and calculators. Diana on the front desk has worked for the company for 54 years.

“Working with Alice gives us visibility,” says Pittards’ chief executive, Reg Hankey. “There is a very real sense of ownership of what we make, and it’s nice for our staff to go home to their families and be able to show them the handbag they are making on Instagram.”

After 18 years of living and designing in London and outsourcing manufacturing to Italy, Temperley has moved manufacture of accessories and outerwear to Somerset with the aim of establishing “a more sustainable way of working, partnering with local factories and building a more efficient and more transparent supply chain.” Accessories, outerwear and wedding dress embroidery are now being produced at factories within a few miles of Temperley’s Ilminster headquarters, which houses her studio, a shop and a cocktail bar whose signature drinks are made with local cider brandy.

For decades the fashion industry chased the cheapest needle around the world, abandoning British manufacturing in the process. Supply chains see garments crisscross the globe. Linen grown in Europe is shipped to Asia to be dyed before returning to Europe to be made into shirts. Plastic buttons manufactured in China are transported to Italy to be wrapped in fabric before being sent to Portugal to be attached to clothes. The high carbon cost of such journeys is exacerbated by wastefulness when, due to a lengthy lead time, the finished product is out of date by the time the label is sewn on.

It’s important to me that I can turn up unannounced and have a chat and a relationship with the people making my clothes Deborah Bee, Bee & Sons

Complex and opaque supply chains have enabled abuse of the basic human rights of many of the world’s 85 million garment workers, by allowing the industry to evade responsibility. Brands outsource production to workplaces where they have little oversight, while consumers know little of where their clothes are made beyond a country name printed in a label. Last year, revelations of conditions in Leicester’s garment district, where employees were denied the minimum wage and faced unsafe working conditions during the pandemic, exposed the global scale of the scandal.

But consumer pressure, and increasing political heat in the wake of Keir Starmer’s pledge that a Labour government would “buy British”, are firing interest in responsible and transparent local manufacture. John Lewis, the high street giant and a bellwether of British public opinion, has recently begun selling menswear by Community Clothing, a social enterprise brand founded by the designer Patrick Grant. Community Clothing pieces are entirely made in the UK, providing employment in 31 factories around the country.

“Fifteen years ago I visited a fashion factory in Nicaragua which was guarded by a man with a machine gun,” recalls Deborah Bee, an ex-fashion editor and founder of the knitwear company Bee & Sons. “The women worked from 8am until 6pm and were only allowed a short lunch break and one toilet break.” When Bee launched her label, making cardigans in natural yarn designed to be fully recyclable, she partnered with Mansfield’s Corah Textiles factory, which employs about 20 people. “It is manufacturing, but on a craftsmanship scale. It’s important to me that I can turn up unannounced and have a chat and a relationship with the people making my clothes.”

Inside Pittards. ‘There is a very real sense of ownership of what we make,’ says Hankey. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian

Corah Textiles’ employees at work on their knitting machines are the stars of a video on the Bee & Sons website, while Temperley dreams of putting the Swiss Tulle factory in Chard, which she employs for wedding dress production, in the spotlight as a catwalk venue. “It feels like a magical place – like a fairytale. Wouldn’t this be an incredible location for a show?” Temperley asks, gesturing across a cavernous building where 180-year-old machines with the size and majesty of steam engines crank and whir.

The designer Lauren Grant’s S.A.R.K. silk shirts featuring ring pulls, fake nails and pill capsules in place of conventional buttons are all made in small London factories. “When I’ve got a new pattern I take pastries in to the team and we problem-solve together, working out how to minimise waste. Then once production has started I can try a shirt on to check the fit and make any adjustments. I like the practicality of that, and my customers appreciate the sustainability,” says Grant.

O Pioneers , a slow fashion label whose prairie-style dresses made from “deadstock” (fabric that has been unused, or unsold, from previous seasons) have been worn by Carrie Johnson, partners with small factories and individual seamstresses. “When we go to the factory to pick up our finished dresses, we take all the bits and pieces of fabric offcuts home and then we use them to make our patchwork dresses,” says the co-founder Clara Francis.

But not everyone agrees that local manufacturing is an automatic win for sustainability. Amy Powney, designer of the upmarket British brand Mother of Pearl and a prominent advocate for sustainable fashion, chooses to manufacture abroad, close to where her fabric is sourced. “My primary concern is the environment, and that is a global issue. Manufacturing in the UK has obvious benefits for jobs and industry and community, but not necessarily for the environment.”

The British climate is not warm enough to grow cotton, and the majority of British wool is destined for the carpet trade, being too coarse for consumer tastes. “In food there is a field-to-table supply chain that consumers can understand. If you buy a potato that has been grown in Britain, it hasn’t been abroad before it appeared in that shop. But the fashion supply chain is so much more complicated. You could buy a jumper that says “made in Scotland”, but the wool may have come from Australia and been sent to China to be woven into yarn before it got to Scotland.”

Most upscale “Scottish cashmere” companies import yarn from goats in Mongolia, which is then milled in Scotland. Merino sheep originated in Spain but in the 19th century, as meat production overtook the wool trade in importance and larger sheep became more profitable, the petite merino breed fell out of favour in Europe and was exported to Australia and New Zealand. These two countries now produce 80% of the world’s merino wool, prized for its softness.

Patrick Grant, a fashion designer and co-presenter of BBC’s The Great British Sewing Bee, took over Blackburn’s Cookson & Clegg factory when it was at risk of closure five years ago. He is “a huge believer in factories as a force for good. My first job was in a factory, and I’ve loved them ever since. They provide jobs, but also purpose and support and friendship to people of all ages and backgrounds, irrespective of academic achievement levels.”

Grant believes that amplifying the status and visibility of fashion manufacture could also have a positive impact on consumer behaviour. “If we reconnect the customer with what manufacturing looks like, that could help make people value clothes again – a mindset that fast fashion has very successfully destroyed for its own gain.”

A simple crew-neck cotton T-shirt by Community Clothing – knitted in Leicester, cut and sewn in Blackburn – costs £22. But the high production costs and limited scale of British fashion manufacturing put off most affordable fashion brands from domestic manufacture. Decades of high-street price wars have left consumers expecting eye-catchingly low prices that are difficult to achieve using British factories.

At Albion Knitting, a knitting factory in London’s Haringey warehouse district, a skilled workforce of 50 produces about 7,000 garments a month for brands including Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy and Chloe. On the factory floor, Sissy is wielding a latch needle with surgical precision, correcting minuscule errors in a semi-sheer pointelle knit panel whose tiny stitches make up an all-over pattern of Givenchy’s “G” logo. Ellie is linking a sleeve to the body of a sweater, hooking individual loops over tiny needles at speed to create a flat, seamless join.

Albion Knitting factory in London. ‘I think some people imagine a dark satanic mill, but we’ve got a great workforce who are proud to work here,’ says co-founder Chris Murphy. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

“In a cheaply produced garment, that seam would be overlocked, and much more bulky,” explains Chris Murphy, who co-founded the factory in 2014 in response to demand from luxury brands looking to move production from Asia to the UK. The building, which had one power point when Murphy moved in, now houses more than £1m worth of knitting machinery. “LONDON” is spelled out in metal vintage fairground letters on one high wall, next to an openwork spiral staircase designed to resemble a ball of wool, with stair treads made from needle beds reclaimed from old knitting machines.

“We want this to be a nice place to work. I think some people imagine a dark satanic mill, but we’ve got a great workforce who are proud to work here,” says Murphy. A classic knitted Chanel cardigan jacket in navy with pale pink trim, an Alexander McQueen cream cashmere sweater with hand-embroidered metallic beading at the neckline and a Chloe sweater dress in recycled cashmere are among the samples hanging on rails, and business is “definitely on the uptick”, says Murphy.

One of the smaller brands on Albion’s client list is the boutique cashmere label Aethel, which was started last year by Tim Ewington, a co-founder of Stylist magazine. “I wanted to see if it was possible build a small, ethical, British luxury brand,” says Ewington. “Our customers care about their clothes, and caring about how they were made is part of that.” Aethel’s knits are produced at Albion using Italian cashmere yarn; orders within London are delivered by bicycle.

At Fortis Clothing near Axminster, where production ranges from leopard-print Alice Temperley jackets to outerwear for the Devon and Cornwall police, demand from brands looking to place orders has increased. “British manufacturing has been tough for a long time, but things are changing,” says the company director Oliver Massy-Birch. “In the last 12 to 18 months we’ve been getting 10 emails a week from brands asking us to produce for them.”

Sustainable credentials are a draw: Fortis Clothing recently bought woodland to aid carbon offsetting, with the aim of becoming the first carbon-negative clothing brand in Europe. Insulation in own-brand jackets is made from recycled ocean plastics.

Mulberry, the largest manufacturer of luxury goods in the UK, is about to increase production in its two Somerset factories, the Rookery and the Willows, which between them employ 450 people. “The factories and the people who work there are the centre of who we are,” says the supply chain director, Rob Billington. “They are fantastic places. There is so much knowledge there.

“When we start producing a new bag, the person in the factory who’s been working with us for 20 years pretty much knows whether it will be a success of not.” Mulberry proves that responsible British fashion manufacturing is possible, says Billington. “At Mulberry we compete with Louis Vuitton and Chanel and Gucci and we hold our own. But it would be great to have a government incentivising UK manufacturing beyond the big boys of the car industry.”

Factories making handbags and cardigans lack the hard-hat optics to entice politicians for photo opportunities. “When the government talks about manufacturing they talk about Rolls-Royce and Jaguar,” says Patrick Grant. “And people get excited about Savile Row tailors or by someone who sits in a shed for eight hours making a knife by hand. But fashion is an area in which Britain has historically punched above its weight and factories could be part of that, as they once were.”

At its height in the 1950s, 1.5 million people were employed in the UK textile industry. “We’re not going to get back to those numbers, but there could be 500,000 jobs – and many would be jobs in towns like Blackburn, towns which were decimated by factory closures and which don’t have much of a service industry.”

The most recent data from the industry news and data network Fashion United suggests that 39,000 people are employed in the manufacture of clothes and shoes in the UK. Last year Cookson & Clegg was one of many British factories that pivoted to producing PPE for health workers during lockdown, highlighting that government spending on uniforms and utility wear has largely been outsourced overseas.

Georgiana Huddart, a co-founder of the cult swimwear brand Hunza G, employs two London factories to make her distinctive crinkle-fabric swimsuits and bikinis. “British factories do tend to be slightly old fashioned,” she says. “They like a phone call and a handshake and to eat lunch with you. It’s lovely to have that relationship. At the beginning of this summer we sent each of the 35 workers in one of the factories a scrunchie and some hand cream, because we had so many orders and we knew they would be really busy. But it’s hard when you come to scale up. Our business is growing and it’s getting tricky to find UK manufacturing that works.”

While UK manufacturing is a boost for domestic jobs, Temperley is one of many British designers who also feel a responsibility to workers abroad who may be losing out. “I’ve been back to London maybe six times in the last year, and I don’t miss it at all,” she says. “But I do worry about some of the Indian embroidery workshops that I’ve had long relationships with. I’ve been trying to place orders with them as well, because I know they are in need of work.”

Shorter supply chains can reduce carbon emissions, but manufacturing and sustainability will always present a conflict of interest. “Consumers are looking for a green light to purchase without guilt, and the reality is that there is no such thing as a zero-impact clothing brand,” says Chris Murphy. “What we believe in is making high-quality clothes which people value and buy less of.”

While British production does not guarantee a higher standard, Patrick Grant believes it tips the odds in favour. “If you are spending more in order to have your jacket made in the UK, it doesn’t make sense to save 50p on buying a cheaper fabric, so the overall quality does tend to be a better product.”

The 2021 Best of Big D

Best Taco Joint

It’s impossible to choose: the cochinita pibil taco, with fuchsia-pink pickled onions to cut through spice; the chile relleno–stuffed taco, swathed in guajillo-morita salsa; the tortas and burritos, too. Ismael and Olmy Sanchez had no business making such a marvelous taqueria. But they did, with sequined curtains for a festive touch.

720 E. Jefferson Blvd. 972-982-0004.

“We started in a gas station in McKinney. People thought authentic Mexican food should be $1 tacos. But my husband said the most important thing is the flavor. He believed in it, and now here we are.” Olmy Sanchez, Del Sur Tacos

Best Brewery

Much like the universe for which this brewery is themed, Celestial Beerworks’ roster of brews feels ever-expanding. You may have tried many a hazy IPA or fruity gose or pale ale, but the beer coming out of this mural-bedecked brewery and taproom in the Medical District is otherworldly in the best possible way. Honorable mention: White Rock Alehouse & Brewery

2530 Butler St. 972-707-0523.

Best Seafood Boil

Asian meets Cajun at this Bishop Arts restaurant where buckets brim with crawfish, shrimp, clam, and crab, all doused in Krio’s signature Cajun spice blend. Opt for the Connie Sauce, which adds fresh garlic and coconut milk to the mix for a creamy-spicy boil broth. Honorable mention: Tasty Tails

233 W. Seventh St., Ste. 100. 214-253-9311.

Best Paletas

Anyone can freeze some juice and call it a Popsicle. These, though, are paletas of the highest caliber, with flavor combos like cucumber-lime-jalapeño, prickly pear–mango, and, simply, pico de gallo for the savory dessert lovers out there. If you miss the paleta cart rolling down the street, head to Encanto Pops. Honorable mention: Picolé

831 W. Davis St. 469-899-7434.

Best Fried Chicken Sandwich

You could rappel into the crags of the fried chicken sandwich here. Its golden-brown bark boasts deep nooks and crannies, the mark of flavor-packed bites. Halal chicken is brined in buttermilk, fried, then accompanied by pickled jalapeño slaw for the Cardi B, or with dill mayo and pickles in its sister sandwich, known simply as Cardi.

4029 Crutcher St. 214-272-7312.

Best Late-Night Eats

After making the rounds at your usual Deep Ellum haunts, you’d better make a pit stop at Brick and Bones before hopping in an Uber. A bucket of some of the best fried chicken in town—even better at 1 in the morning, after a few too many Lone Stars—will provide necessary sustenance for your pothole–riddled ride home.

2713 Elm St. 469-914-6776.

Elizabeth Lavin

Best Paella

Head chef Iñaki Betrán, who hails from San Sebastian, where he started cooking at the Michelin-starred Arzak, prepares the beloved Spanish rice dish of his home country in four styles: vegetable-centric; rabbit and chicken; seafood (which is a classic must-try); and “black,” so named for the squid ink in which the paella is simmered.

321 N. Zang Blvd. 214-484-6006.

Best Chocolatier

Mother-and-daughter duo Andrea and Cindy Pedraza fill their adorable cottage in Bishop Arts with handmade molded chocolates, truffles, and bars like the roseberry (milk chocolate with dehydrated raspberries and rose petals). As our only female (and Latina) bean-to-bar chocolatiers, they source cacao in part from a woman-helmed cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. Honorable mention: Dude Sweet Chocolate

508 W. Seventh St. 214-941-3030.

Best Place for Filipino Lechon

The spit and cleaver fever is high. Friday through Sunday, down a very ordinary road in Princeton, you’ll find whole-pig lechon, the Filipino suckling pig roasted in a coal-lined pit, its burnished, crackling skin yielding meat you pre-order by the pound. Add homey Filipino dishes—pancit, lumpia, tapsilog—served from a tiny wooden shack. It’s a trip to an island beach cookout.

10424 County Road 1099, Princeton. 903-422-3071.

Best Vietnamese

From banh mi harboring smears of smooth cognac pâté to the most impressive lineup of noodle dishes—both brothy bowls and ones accompanied by a sidecar of soup for sipping—Ngon demonstrates the vastness of Vietnamese cuisine. With items like chicken wings caramelized in fish sauce and grilled duck breast curry, run, don’t walk, to Ngon. Honorable mention: LaVui

1907 Greenville Ave. 469-250-7183.

Best Korean

As the name implies, the Korean dishes at Joy Kitchen are made with (and for) pure pleasure. The bulgogi always delivers. The seafood pancake is crispy, large, and filling. The burbling pot of kimchi jjigae and pork neck bone soup is comforting. It’s all so home-style, in fact, that you serve yourself. Honorable mention: Dansungsa Korean Restaurant and Bar

1455 Buckingham Rd., Ste. 112, Richardson. 972-479-9450.

Best Ramen

Following George Itoh’s sudden death in April, his family has carried on the tradition he started, with truly exquisite ramen made with noodles sourced from Sapporo, Japan. All of the elements—soup, noodles, toppings, seasonings, oil—get due respect. Begin your pursuit with the delicate Fuji apple and burdock broth. Honorable mention: Ten Ramen

2724 Commerce St. 972-707-0732.

Kevin Marple

Best Tasting Menu

Oh, to live inside the beautiful culinary mind of chef-owner Misti Norris. How does she dream up some 10 courses of nonstop food magic? In her hands, beef heart is paired with ash-soured sunflower seeds and peanut dukkah. She spoons brine beurre blanc over quenelles of fermented eggplant. Every meal here is elegantly executed.

601 N. Haskell Ave. 318-935-0906.

Best Bagels

Tight-crumbed and blitzed with poppy seeds (our order), these hand-shaped concentric circles took the city by storm. Jessica and Seth Brammer’s bagels, made with Barton Springs Mill heirloom flour, are perfect on their own, but you might want to give them a schmear. Choose from an assortment of cream cheeses like fresh strawberry or scallion and hard-cooked egg. Honorable mention: Shug’s Bagels

lenoresbagels.com

Best Barbecue

When it comes to barbecue, we certainly aren’t lacking places of worship. But we still get religion here, coming for the shivering beef rib, whole salt-crusted sweet potato Hot Mess, green-chile mac and cheese, and banana pudding. Diane and Justin Fourton recently lifted up the restaurant industry with their Dinner Bell Foundation. Honorable mention: Cattleack

2702 Main St. 214-748-8900.

Best Burger

For a good while, we were enamored with lofty burgers bearing all the bells and whistles. That’s not Harvey B’s. The retro-style joint does quarter- and half-pound patties the old-school way. No fuss. No frills. Just melted cheese, toasted buns, shredded iceberg lettuce for crunch not flavor, and maybe some freshly grilled jalapeños. Honorable mention: Peak Inn

4506 Columbia Ave., Ste. 100. 469-334-0980.

Best Order-Ahead Bakery

La Casita, the labor of love of Maricsa Trejo and Alex Henderson, is a wonderland of sweets (and some savory, too). Place Saturday orders while hungry—how to choose between the dulce de leche cruffins and ham and Gruyère croissants?—then systematically devour in your car in a shower of crumbs. Honorable mention: Girl With Flour

580 W. Arapaho Rd., Ste. 230, Richardson. 440-462-2078.

Best Regional Mexican Food

For his new concept inside Revolver Taco Lounge, Regino Rojas had us at the promise of multicourse tasting menus centered on indigenous strains of corn he sources from various regions of Mexico, nixtamalizes, and grinds in a molino. From there, among other things, you find wagyu rib-eye and carne asada on a midnight blue tortilla.

2701 Main St., Ste. 120. 214-272-7163.

Best Banh Mi

Crackling, airy baguette (from Quoc Bao); house-pickled daikon and carrots; ginger tofu, chicken, pork, or house-steamed sausage; killer sauce; and runny egg—meet your banh mi bliss. Sandwich Hag owner Reyna Duong is a force in the community. Honorable mention: Quoc Bao Bakery

1902 Botham Jean Blvd. 214-484-5971.

Best Chinese Takeout

Squeezed into the same strip mall as Asian supermarket Jusgo is a delightful little Szechuan kitchen that elevates simplicity and packs plenty of spice. You’ll find all your takeout classics on the menu, but here even dry-fried green beans and beef sautéed with onions and Szechuan peppers take on new dimensions of flavor.

240 Legacy Dr., Plano. 972-517-1374.

Best New York Deli

The bagel dough hails from Brooklyn. The classic lox platter is called the East Coaster. The owners are two hip, kosher mavens besotted with traditional Friday-only challah (with chocolate swirls or za’atar spice) and accompanying dips (try the sweet roasted onion). Our deli prayers are answered. Honorable mention: Cindi’s NY Deli

13534 Preston Rd. 469-677-5424.

Best Japanese

Slurping soba is a ritual that should capture one’s full attention. But it’s not just the delicate buckwheat noodles here that are special. Sashimi and both hot and cold dishes are of the utmost delicacy. And everything about Teiichi Sakurai’s tranquil oasis reads like a sanctuary.

1722 Routh St., Ste. 110. 214-220-2828.

Best Restaurant Patio

With its own bar and turf, along with cactus-garden centerpieces and vintage Airstream trailer, maximalist Nick Badovinus’ largest-footprint patio is a freewheeling fantasy with excellent Hi-Balls and fire-kissed tacos. We’re happy to suspend reality awhile. What’s not to like about a Baja vacation with no extra charge?

1520 Greenville Ave. 214-827-1520.

Best Japanese Sandwich

The Japanese sando sensation arrived with Instagram-worthy fillings stacked between layers of fluffy milk bread. We went wild for matcha cream and strawberries; koji-cured chicken cutlet riffing on Nashville hot chicken; and the priciest sandwich we’d ever seen, featuring A5 wagyu flecked with black truffle and gold leaf.

sandoitchi.menu

Best Vegetarian-Friendly

It’s not just the sunny bowls with avocado and jalapeño-cashew cream cheese that the cool kids eat on the patio. Nor the walnut-mushroom faux sausage crumble tacos. It’s not merely the brilliant beet lattes and biscuits with macadamia-nut ricotta that make us feel like we’re brunching in L.A. It’s everything, really, that gives us plate envy.

263 N. Bishop Ave. 469-776-8003.

Best Vegan

At TLC, chef Troy Gardner excels at plant-based faux meats and cheeses. He trained in Spain but looks everywhere for inspiration for seitan andouille sausage served with his arrabbiata sauce, chicken-fried steak with gravy, vegan brats, or the dollops of cashew mozzarella on a pizza.

520 Shepherd Dr., Ste. 10A, Garland. 469-562-4001.

Best Bakery

Tida Pichakron turns out a spunky, creative, and polished lineup, from macarons to fruity mousse bars, Key lime tarts to pistachio-raspberry cakes. Her gluten-free and paleo options have earned a devoted following. As have monthly beignet pop-ups that have you showering the sidewalk in a snowfall of powdered sugar. Honorable mention: Bisous Bisous Patisserie

10230 E. Northwest Hwy. 214-856-0166.

Best Bakery for Bread

Bresnan Bread and Pastry

Matt Bresnan’s orange-cardamom morning buns and vanilla cream Danish pastries with Cara Cara orange and pistachio are unparalleled. But even more, we love his loaves. Hand-mixed, long-fermented, burnished domes include country sour, multigrain, golden raisin-fennel, and walnut-olive. Praise be, they’re opening a brick-and-mortar in McKinney.

Various pickup locations.

bresnanbreadandpastry.com

Jill Broussard

Best French Restaurant

Michelin-star chef Bruno Davaillon recently joined fellow Frenchman-restaurateur Stephan Courseau to oversee this breezy neighborhood bistro. Now there’s even more reason to don your blue-and-white stripes or foulard and eat endive-Roquefort salad, trout almondine and haricots verts, and pommes frites—maybe with a Pouilly-Fuissé from Davaillon’s native Loire Valley.

3230 Knox St., Ste. 140. 469-250-4007.

Best Italian

David and Jennifer Uygur have re-created their intimate Lucia in the former Macellaio space. It’s all the good stuff you remember, plus more. There are still pastas shaped with care and house salumi—from mortadella to ’nduja—served with griddled house focaccia. Desserts, like a fennel-pollen gelato, blew us away. Honorable mention: Nonna

287 N. Bishop Ave. 214-948-4998.

Best Tex-Mex

The best Tex-Mex is arguably the one in your neighborhood—your staple spot where you take the family for a no-brainer solid meal. That’s E Bar, the Old East Dallas favorite for sizzling fajitas, brisket tacos, and blackened fish tacos (don’t sleep on the fish tacos!).

1901 N. Haskell Ave., Ste. 120. 214-824-3227.

Best Ice Cream

We see you, Columbus, Ohio-based Jeni’s, we really do. But we’re suckers for this essential local gelato shop, where flavors—mascarpone fig, Piedmont hazelnut, or coconut stracciatella—are perfectly mastered. Carlo Gattini works Willy Wonka wonders with frozen gelato cakes that layer semifreddo with gelato and liquor-soaked sponge cakes in flavors like pistachio-rose.

2116 Greenville Ave. 469-776-9077; 5959 Royal Ln., Ste. 622. 214-964-0073.

Best Place for Dessert

Pastry wizard Maggie Huff continues to impress us with the most memorable desserts we eat in town. We still remember those hearth-smoked strawberries paired with beet froyo and poppy seed cake. And the love story carries over to a devastating dark chocolate-almond tart or anything served in pressed-glass footed coupes.

4002 Oak Lawn Ave. 214-434-1244.

Best Dim Sum

Brave the weekend line to the elegant upstairs dining room to do dim sum in style. Carts bear an array of beautifully executed treasures: bronzed barbecue pork buns, pan-fried radish cakes, flaky egg tarts, and even preserved egg congee. Accent with the uncannily addictive house-made chile sauce. Take a jar home, in fact.

221 W. Polk St., Ste. 200, Richardson. 214-575-8888.

Catherine Downes

Best Cheese Shop

When you want a triple-crème, a goat’s milk Gouda, or a funky bleu, the team helps you out. Classes teach curd nerds to pair fromage with wine, charcuterie, and bubbles.

3511 Oak Lawn Ave. 214-219-1300; 920 S. Harwood St. 214-238-2312.

Best Coffeehouse

Equally great for a caffeine-fueled laptop session as it is for a nice brunch with a friend, Xamán is undoubtedly a community cafe where you can get espresso-spiked horchata and expertly brewed single-origin coffee, which is sourced from smaller family-owned farms in Mexico. Honorable mention: Fiction Coffee

334 W. Jefferson Blvd. 469-687-0005.

Best Mod Taco

Sometimes you want street-style protein-​masa-sauce combinations (trompo, asada, lengua, cabeza). But sometimes you want to spiral off into a caramelized cauliflower, kale, and pepita taco drizzled with lemon epazote aioli. Or tacos that sport pecan-smoked chicken or scallops and crispy leeks. Andrew Savoie is happy to (deliciously) oblige.

9661 Audelia Rd., Ste. 112. 972-685-5280.

Best Hot Chicken

Even if you are a Nashville native and were born to the hot chicken scene, this isn’t the place to get cocky. Ask for a sample before you work your way up the Scoville scale. We’re perfectly happy with Mild and extra Comeback Sauce. If creamed corn is on the specials board, get it.

100 S. Central Expwy., Ste. 18, Richardson. 214-272-3735.

Brittany Conerly

Best Doughnuts

We eagerly await creative doughnut genius Jinny Cho’s rotating monthly flavor drop like an album release: whipped cream swirls, dreamy fillings, and other tricks give you rose and Champagne with gold leaf, matcha and red bean, or an Arnold Palmer or Ferrero Rocher doppelganger. Honorable mention: Hypnotic Donuts & Chicken Biscuits

8161 FM 423, Ste. 250, Frisco. 469-535-3585.

Best Steakhouse

At steak wizard John Tesar’s den, we crave the off-cut bavette from 44 Farms as much as the behemoth rib-eye, dry-aged 240 days. We also love the story of how he sold steaks during lockdown, dropping marbled flesh into waiting car trunks. Honorable mention: Town Hearth

5300 E. Mockingbird Ln. 214-443-9339; 6121 W. Park Blvd., Plano. 214-299-5943.

Best Lobster Roll

We long waited for the perfect lobster roll, and then Nick Badovinus delivered it: freckled, rosy hunks slathered in butter, cradled in a warm, griddled, split-top brioche bun. Get it Maine-style if you wish, chilled and daintily dressed in ultra-creamy, tarragon-flecked mayo. We’re not choosing sides in the chilled-versus-warm debate.

33B Highland Park Village. 214-559-4245.

Best Pizza

Pizza Leila

In this year when the right angles of Detroit-style pizza dominated, Leila’s similarly square Sicilian pies woke us from our blister-crusted Neapolitan reverie and split the difference. We swoon over the spinach-artichoke situation that oozes and bubbles and the porchetta-laced meat-lovers’ hit, The Butcher. Honorable mention: Pizzeria Testa

2001 Ross Ave. 214-484-1395.

Best Vegetarian Sandwich

Patina Green Home and Market

Patina Green makes a beautiful and (we’ll say it) poetic vegetable sandwich: roasted cauliflower—meltingly tender and still warm—meets arugula, firm raw cheddar, and a smear of green-tomato relish in a tryst with Hippie Health bread. Perch outside the shop on Mc​Kinney’s historic square, and you’ve got a brilliant picnic. Honorable mention: Brown Bag Provisions

116 N. Tennessee St., Ste. 102, McKinney. 972-548-9141.

David Loi

Best Laotian

We’ve slurped many a boat noodle broth at this much-acclaimed, soulful gem. This year, Donny Sirisavath debuted a whole new Laotian repertoire, including a spring roll wrapped in vermicelli noodles and even a soothing, hearty curry, heady with makrut lime and served over a mound of purple rice.

4812 Bryan St., Ste. 101. 972-803-3373.

Best Reason to Spoil your Appetite

Bread course at Meridian

Sure, we’ve gorged on pre-dinner bread and butter. Junior Borges and David Madrid elevate the trope to artistry. Don’t miss ordering the tableaux of Madrid’s buttery brioche or individual miche with its flanking attendants: house ricotta with charred alliums, fiery ’nduja, or cultured butter marbled with blueberry powder or green garlic.

5650 Village Glen Dr. 469-659-6382.

Best Fried Chicken

Roots Chicken Shak

Fancy fried chicken naysayers, recant! Former Top Chef contestant Tiffany Derry debuted her mahogany bird at the tony Private Social 10 years ago, applying the notion of crackling duck-fat fries. Now, get it piled onto a sweet-potato bun with West Indies hot sauce, too. This is her speaking in her own voice. Honorable mention: Mike’s Chicken

7800 Windrose Ave., Plano. 469-546-5961.

Best Custom Vegan Baked Goods

Moon Child Vegan Cakes

Amaris Riddle grew up with a cake decorator mother. But now she uses vegan ingredients to make spectacular cakes, raspberry jam- or cream-filled doughnuts, nostalgia-tinged pop tarts, seasonal scones, and luster-dusted cupcakes with fillings like sultry vegan butterscotch. We really wouldn’t know the difference. Honorable mention: Sweet Gilly’s Vegan

Best Thai

The husband-and-wife team of George Kaiho (from Japan) and Yuyee Sakpanichkul Kaiho (from Bangkok) creates a unique blend of street food at this casual Thai counter-order spot near the Dallas Farmers Market. We tantalize our taste buds with the fiery nam tok moo, then soothe them with the sweet pandan custard with sticky rice.

1011 S. Pearl Expwy., Ste. 190. 214-238-2232.

Best Caribbean

No matter the weather, no matter the season, The Island Spot is a bright tropical paradise on Jefferson Boulevard, where quintessential jerk spices grace everything from luscious chicken to ribs to nachos. Whether it’s simmered oxtails or curried goat that lands on your table, do wash it all down with a sunset-hued rum cocktail from the full bar. Honorable mention: The Caribbean Cabana

309 W. Jefferson Blvd., 972-913-4919; 2661 Midway Rd., Ste. 105, Carrollton.

Best Place to Buy Booze

That bottle of reserve chardonnay from Mexico’s oldest vineyard that you had on the Riviera Maya? Check. Your favorite Japanese gin and whiskey? Double check. Dom Perignon rosé, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, and Swiss truffles? Triple check. Doorstep delivery with optional gift wrap? Hallelujah. Honorable mention: Bar & Garden Dallas

5360 W. Lovers Ln. 214-350-8989.

Elizabeth Lavin

Best Gourmet Grocery Delivery

Farmer Jeff Bednar had us at fresh herbs, microgreens, and edible flowers from his hydroponic farm in Lucas. Working with local growers, he added to his roster heirloom veggies, grass-fed meats, farm-fresh eggs, whole grains—even handmade pasta, bagels, and tamales. The inside of our fridge has never been so lovely.

Best Drag Brunch

Booty’s Street Food

What do you get when you cross a pirate-inspired restaurant concept with an elevated yet affordable globally inspired menu, attach it to a Deep Ellum hostel, throw in MC Barbie Davenport Dupree and DJ Dezi, and give it a good stir? The liveliest drag brunch, every Sunday. Eye patch optional.

2801 Elm St. 214-712-8118.

Best Frozen Margs

Crystalline and slushy, tangy and filled with top-notch tequila, the frozen margarita at José (dubbed The Squozen) is extraordinary. Yes, it’s bright with lime juice and a hint of agave. Yes, the tile bar takes you straight to Guadalajara. It’s truly a frosty concoction worthy of the city that invented it.

931 W. Lovers Ln. 214-891-5673.

Natalie Goff

Best Breakfast Taco

La Nueva does most of its own work. The chorizo is seasoned in-house. The tortillas come from here, too, sturdy corn and pillowy flour in which you can fold a mix of scrambled egg and guisado rojo or bean and cheese. Just make sure you don’t leave without a tub of bright, rich salsa guacamole.

9625 Webb Chapel Rd. 214-358-7261.

Best Sushi

Uchi was always a go-to for special celebrations, but this year it became a takeout revelation. “Cool tastings” of flounder and candied quinoa or bigeye tuna, Fuji apple, and goat cheese lost nothing in translation on the journey home. But we’re back to dining in for the wagyu tataki with miso foam.

2817 Maple Ave. 214-855-5454.

Best Dumplings

We are fools for the steamed soup dumplings, which take us back to lazy mornings in Shanghai. Our biggest mistake is never ordering enough of the pan-fried pork buns dusted with black sesame seeds, the yin of the pillowy soft top meeting the yang of the crisp golden underbelly. Honorable mention: Momo Shack

8150 N. MacArthur Blvd., Ste. 190, Irving. 972-831-9888.

Best Family-Friendly

The best way to describe this Sylvan Thirty staple is controlled chaos. On weekends, expect a dozen or so kids darting across the open manicured lawn outside this Italian market. Parents sip wine and eat pizza on the sprawling patio while their kids tire themselves out. For families, it’s the best of both worlds.

1868 Sylvan Ave. 214-653-2426.

Kevin Marple

Best Place to Celebrate an Anniversary

The luxurious dining room is the perfect spot to mark an occasion. Sink into opulent velvet banquettes, watching servers glide by. Order foie gras poêlé, white asparagus topped with trout roe pearls, and a nose-bleed-priced, famously pedigreed Blackmore Australian wagyu matched with a rare four-figure bottle. You only live once.

4514 Travis St., Ste. 132. 469-466-8263.

Best Butcher Shop

Snout-to-tail butcher Nathan Abeyta and his team continue to innovate and grow. In June, their small North Dallas shop expanded into the space next door, allowing them to dry age more Texas beef, cure more heritage Red Wattle pork guanciale, brine more Black Angus beef pastrami, and smoke more Cajun boudin. Honorable mention: American Butchers

7989 Belt Line Rd., Ste. 146. 469-906-6420.

Best Brunch

In the former Bolsa space, chef Matt Balke and partner Corey McCombs’ take on New American/Modern Southern means sitting on the covered patio amid reclaimed wood and butterscotch-colored leather seats and diving headlong into feather-light blue cornmeal pancakes slathered in satiny cajeta, kale biscuits with rivulets of chorizo gravy, and mimosas.

614 W. Davis St., Ste. 100. 469-620-3644.

Natalie Goff

Best Breakfast

The menu here is largely based on various breakfast sandwiches, most served on house beer biscuits, and everything you order delivers a perfect good-morning bite. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the Duder: house-made chorizo on a biscuit with peanut butter and jelly. As the menu says, trust us.

1155 Peavy Rd. 972-807-2899.

Best Detriot-Style Pizza

This year, many tried to take on the Motor City trend of thick-crust pizzas covered edge-to-edge with Wisconsin brick cheese, but the pie pros behind Cane Rosso and Zoli’s truly made it their own. The Luka Brasi is a slam dunk, with dollops of ricotta, meatballs, fresh basil, and the requisite red sauce on top.

3501 Hulen St., Fort Worth. 817-402-0050; 14910 Midway Rd., Addison. 469-754-9654.

Best Indian

OK, it’s upscale Indian-French, but we’re whisked away by the respectful flavors Afifa Nayeb conjures in the restaurant she co-owns with her daughter, Sabrina. Don’t miss the dinner menu’s lamb vindaloo and naan puffs. Brunch boasts a rich tikka Benedict. And in the moody Elephant Bar, settle in with a Purple Cloud, with coconut milk and egg white foam.

418 N. Bishop Ave. 214-782-9696.