Chris Shepard’s Southern Smoke Festival Invites Celebrity Chefs for a Record-breaking Weekend Filled with Food

The Southern Smoke Festival, a two-day food and drink charity festival led by James Beard Award-winning Houston chef Chris Shepherd, returned for its seventh year last weekend, drawing nearly 4,000 attendees and 60 chefs to Discovery Green downtown. .

The event raised a total of $1.8 million in proceeds, which will go to the festival’s nonprofit organization, the Southern Smoke Foundation. Founded in 2015, the foundation provides grants and programs focused on emergency and mental health assistance for food and beverage workers in the United States.

In a statement, Shepard said this year’s efforts left him speechless, and on stage Saturday he was visibly moved to tears. “The Houston community brings so much passion and energy to the festival, and having industry friends come from all over the country to share their talents and raise awareness for the cause has such a meaningful impact on the Foundation, our team and our mission,” Shepherd said .

The Southern Smoke Festival kicked off on Friday, October 13th with the Respect The Rosé Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston. The Monte Carlo-themed event, which included a three-course dinner prepared by various chefs and an auction of rare vintage bottles of wine and champagne, raised $263,000 from 320 guests. The famous block party-style event, the Throwdown, followed Saturday, filled with food and drinks, and welcomed VIP attendees who paid $500 per ticket at 3 p.m. Meanwhile, hundreds of visitors who had paid for general admission could be seen in a huge queue that snaked around the park, waiting to enter.

The event was a hit, with 3,500 guests visiting Discovery Green in the city centre, where they rubbed shoulders with dozens of celebrity chefs from across the country, who served unlimited small plates and enjoyed live music, rock-yacht-themed DJ sets and giveaways. all night long.

In true Southern Smoke spirit, chefs from across the country and barbecue connoisseurs were on site. James Beard Award winner Chris Bianco of Phoneix Bianco Pizzeria is back for another year of serving pizza made on site. Austin pitmaster Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ was in the center of his tent, slicing and serving brisket for his foldable brisket and coleslaw half sandwiches. Qui Hoang from Blood Bros. The BBQ manned the pits while teammates passed out pieces of roti canai stuffed with goat meat. Pitmaster Greg Gatlin, who this time represented his restaurant Gatlins & Feathers, served a delicious gumbo boudin with pieces of okra.

Other Houston chefs turned in strong performances, with honorees such as Bludorn’s Aaron Bludorn, Street to Kitchen’s Benchawan Jabtong Artist and Tatemo’s Emmanuel Chavez serving special appetizers. Local burger sensations Burger Bodega and Trill Burgers, as well as Viet-Cajun mainstay Crawfish and Noodles, were also in attendance offering sliders, while Jason Ryzczek of Little’s Oyster Bar, Pappas Restaurant’s newest addition, tapped into his maritime roots with crab and foie gras. boudin balls with honey hot sauce.

Manabu “Chef Hori” Horiuchi of Kata Robata and his team offered a dessert with shaved ice and strawberry sauce. Washington, D.C. also had a nice performance with Paola Velez, founder of Bakers Against Racism, serving tart panna cotta with tamarind, pecans and molasses, while chef Angel Barreto of Korean restaurant Anju offered plates of refreshing soft serve melon on top of mochi, corn flakes, diced strawberries and red beans.

While entertainment and food were obviously at the forefront, the mission remained clear throughout the evening, with Shepard and the other chefs making announcements. Shepard launched the festival eight years ago with his wife and Southern Smoke co-founder Lindsey Brown to help his friend and former sommelier Antonio Gianola after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “It quickly became clear how much support our friends in the food and beverage industry needed, whether it be through health crises, personal disasters, natural disasters or any other issue that prevents hourly workers from earning the money they need to be paid. their rent and bills, support their families and otherwise survive,” Brown said in a statement.

In its first year, Southern Smoke raised $180,000, and that amount has been multiplied every year since, allowing the festival to distribute more than $11 million to food and beverage workers across the country who have survived or experienced natural disasters, medical emergencies, and accidents. accidents or other unforeseen events. Most recently, the foundation awarded $258,000 to 118 Maui residents following devastating wildfires that left nearly 100 people dead and at least 31 missing on the Hawaiian island, Brown said.

In addition to providing grants and funds for large-scale disaster relief, Southern Smoke also helps employees through its Behind You mental health program, which offers free mental health counseling to industry professionals through universities in California, Illinois. , Louisiana, New York and Texas. Since 2020, the program has provided 3,600 free mental health sessions.