Raised in Mimoso do Sul, a small town north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Junior Borges came of age as a chef in New York City, working under Missy Robbins at A Voce before becoming executive chef at Midtown Manhattan’s Amali. Borges splashed onto the scene in Dallas in 2014 as opening executive chef at Uchi, then led the kitchen at Matt McCallister’s FT33 as executive chef, before moving to the Joule Hotel as executive chef of the property’s multiple outlets. In 2021, he opened Meridian, the first modern, fine-dining Brazilian restaurant in America. Meridian was named one of Robb Report’s Best of the Best in 2022, and Borges was named a semifinalist in 2023 for the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef.