Southern Smoke Festival 2023 will be held October 13 through October 14 this year. Unfortunately, the Respect the Rose evening October 13 is sold out but there is still time to buy tickets for the SSF Throwdown October 14. It is being held at Discovery Green this year, a new venue for the festival, and it promises to be a culinary extravaganza like no other in the Bayou City.
Southern Smoke Foundation began as a fundraiser in 2015 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society when Houston chef Chris Shepherd and his then girlfriend, Lindsey Brown, founded the non-profit to raise funds in honor of their friend Antonio Gianola, a local sommelier, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In the first year, SSF raised $181,000 for the local MS chapter.
After a couple of years, the organization expanded its focus to “help its own” as more crises affected the local hospitality community in the Gulf Coast region due to Hurricane Harvey and then, the COVID pandemic. Southern Smoke has since added mental healthcare to its mission, reaching across Harris County and beyond to include other cities like Chicago. In July 2022, Shepherd left Underbelly Hospitality, the local restaurant group in which he was an integral founding member, in order to focus on the foundation. He was joined full time by his now wife, Lindsey Brown, in July 2023 when Brown left her own public relations firm to join Southern Smoke Foundation as executive director.
Southern Smoke continues to add to its quest to aid food and beverage workers in need through its Emergency Relief Fund and Behind You, a mental health initiative that helps hospitality workers in states such as Texas, California, Illinois, Louisiana and New York. However, those who are outside service states can apply for aid as well.
Southern Smoke Foundation raises its money through donations and events and the Southern Smoke Festival is the main shindig each year, bringing dozens of talented chefs and teams from across the country to our amazing city. The food is unbelievable, the drinks flow and attendees and participants all have a heckuva good time. There will also be music from Nashville Yacht Club Band, Blue Heron Yacht Club (we’re sensing a theme here), DJ G Funk and Mariachi Amor a Mexico.
The October 14 Throwdown is sure to be a blast and we have a little peek at what some of the acclaimed chefs, more than thirty of them, are bringing to the table.
For a taste of the West Coast, Reem Asil, of Reem’s California in Oakland, will be serving Pali Cali flatbreads with braised sumac chicken caramelized onion jam, labneh and pretty pickled things. For some Texas flavor, Jess Pryles from Hardcore Carnivore in Austin, will have Tex-Mex smoked sausage and masa grits, accompanied by prickly pear bbq sauce. And Sophina Uong of Mister Mao will hit Houston with Japanese-inspired cuisine straight out of New Orleans. She’ll be offering string cheese yakitori, ham, citron marmalade, peanut togarashi with Alaskan surimi.
Matt Horn from Horn Barbecue (Oakland), will have smothered oxtails and rice while Cheetie Kumar from Ajja in Raleigh, North Carolina, will be dishing out lamb kofta with pickled and preserved vegetables and herbed labneh. Another chef from afield (Washington, D.C.) will be Angel Barreto of Anju. He’ll have a sweet Korean treat of melona soft serve with macerated strawberries, mochi, red bean paste, condensed milk and Frosted Flakes. And a SSF favorite, Chris Bianco, will be thrilling festival-goers with his amazing pizza rosa with red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, rosemary and Arizona pistachios. The James Beard Award-winning chef has been serving some of the best pizza in the country for over three decades. There’s usually a line for his SSF pizza slices.
Houston, of course, has its own star power and some of the city’s most talented chefs turn out for the SSF event. Manabu Horiuchi, whose newest restaurant Katami everyone is awaiting, will have kakigori, a Japanese shaved ice. Evelyn Garcia, co-owner and chef with Henry Lu at Jun, will be serving beef meatball with house-made curry, pickled daikon, pistachio crumble and herbs. Garcia was one of the three top finalists for Bravo’s Top Chef: Season 20.
Barbecue pits and smokers are always a welcome sight at Southern Smoke and Truth BBQ’s Leonard Botello IV is no stranger to the festival. He’ll dish out his award-winning brisket with house-made sauce, pickles and red onions served with Martin’s potato bread. We’re a fan of those pickles, if you didn’t know.
There are a lot more chefs and a lot more food. And there’s plenty of refreshing beverages to quench thirsty guests. A good glass of wine is always a welcome pairing and SSF will have vino from The Roots Fund, The Sorting Table, Robert Mondavi Winery, Deutsch Family, William Chris, Cruse Wine Co. and more. There will also be rose from June Rodil of local restaurant group Goodnight Hospitality.
The Official Whiskey Sponsor for the event is Crown Royal and there will be an opportunity for attendees to participate in its purple bag project to aid food and beverage workers in Maui who were affected by this summer’s terrible fires. Tito’s handmade Vodka will have a spritz bar and Teremana Tequila will bring its Mana Lounge to Houston for the first time. Stella Artois is the Official Beer of SSF 2023 and Underberg will have a mobile cart serving its digestif bitters.
There are also non-alcoholic drinks such as N/A beers from Athletic Brewing Co. and Electrolit for extra hydration. And water is always a wise choice at an outdoor festival. SSF will have both San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna for still and fizzy options.
The Houston weather forecast is looking better this weekend than it has in a long time. Go out and make the most of it while contributing to a worthy cause.
Southern Smoke Festival: The Throwdown
Saturday, October 14
Discovery Green
1500 McKinney
Lexus VIP ($500) : 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
General Admission ($175) : 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
