Southern Smoke Festival 2022 ended its three-day chefapalooza this past Sunday and the Southern Smoke Foundation now has an extra $1.62 million to add to its coffers, meaning more funds for mental health care and emergency relief aid for people in the food and beverage industry in Houston and across the United States.
Because of the pandemic, Southern Smoke’s fall charity festival was last held in October 2019. This year, with sponsors like Alaska Seafood and YETI, the non-profit organization was able to make its mega-fest fundraiser more mega and more fest than ever before. It started the party with its H-Town Welcome Wagon October 21, held at Lott Hall in Hermann Park. With a couple dozen chefs serving delicious bites (and even full-sized burgers and sandwiches) and plenty of wine, beer and cocktails flowing, it was a gorgeous evening in Hermann Park, despite the chaos of Zoo Boo happening across the road at the Houston Zoo.
There was also musical entertainment from Robert Ellis, Me Nd Adam and Houston’s DJ G-Funk, who also helped out with rap artist/burgermeister Bun B’s improvised performance. Our own Jesse Sendejas Jr. covered the event here in the Houston Press.
Some of the best bites of the evening for this writer were Bun B’s Trill Burger, Mason Hereford’s Collard Green Melt and Rebecca Masson’s Fried Zeppole with caramel sauce. Sometimes, it was too dark to tell what we were eating, but it was all good.
In addition to the funds raised from tickets sold for the event, Houstonian Joshua Weissman, a YouTube cooking sensation, pledged $1 for each dish served that evening, resulting in a $15,000 donation from Weissman.
The following evening, October 22, was Southern Smoke on Ice, an event that was sold out quickly despite tickets of $1,000. The more intimate gathering was held at the Manor House at The Houstonian with just under 200 guests indulging in a decadent raw bar from Alaska Seafood while watching Chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi and his team break down a 200-pound bluefin tuna.
The final event of the weekend was the massive East Downtown Throwdown, October 23, with over 2,600 attendees wandering the streets of EaDo, sampling food and live fire fare from more than 40 chefs from across the nation.
This year’s festival was far more spread out than previous years so guests were able to walk off some of the calories being consumed. And hydration stations and cocktail tents were plentiful. The VIP lounges for Lexus VIP Early Entry tickets provided a little air conditioning and great restrooms, though the regular public restrooms were also air-conditioned and due to the size of the event this year, more seating and tables were available than in prior years.
These events can have me filled up early on because I am not a big eater. Fortunately, I had my brother Cowboy Clint to sample dishes after I could bite no more. We both agreed that the Fried Grouper Sandwich from Aaron Bludorn of Bludorn restaurant in Houston was one of the best bites of the day. It tasted like wild-caught fish should taste and it was perfectly fried. It’s so difficult to source wild catfish nowadays (unless Cowboy Clint catches some for me), I may become a grouper convert.
Right next to Bludorn was Fermin Nunez who had an amazing Whitefish Clam Ceviche that was fresh and vibrant. When we went back, toward the end of the evening, they were already gone. That was a bite we should have enjoyed more of. Another treat that we should have had seconds of was Chris Bianco’s pizza. He was doing different pies and we got a sliver of the onion pizza with some sort of sausage. But, it’s the crust on Bianco’s pizza that makes people moan with pleasure. It was so thin and the crust was slightly charred, adding a depth of flavor that not many can imitate.
We also were surprised by Tavel Bristol-Joseph’s Jerk Chicken. Our first bites were deliciously smoky and I commented to my brother that I was surprised that it wasn’t very spicy. One minute later, it hit us and I let out an overlong ooooooo sound which caught the attention of a white-bearded fellow who said he had to know what dish had made me make such a sound. We directed him to the jerk chicken, then sat down at a table to eat some oysters from Gatlin’s Fins & Feathers. A few minutes later, our new friend reappeared and said, “You weren’t lying. I think my lips are inflamed. Am I red?” We got a chuckle out of that but he was right. The jerk chicken had almost the same numbing effect as Szechuan peppers.
There was so much more to try and we made our way from booth to booth before landing at the VIP lounge at Miss Carousel. After a while, it was starting to get dark and we headed to Aaron Franklin’s tent for Franklin Barbecue which was tucked off a side street by itself. Earlier, the lines had been predictably long. Now, we waited behind just a few folks. I was given the last of the burnt ends of brisket before one of the pit masters pulled out a fresh, new, dark black brisket which my brother got the first few slices of. My brisket ends were unbelievably melt-in-your-mouth tender. I wasn’t sure what Cowboy Clint was drooling over more; the massive smokers or the brisket itself. He kept referring to Franklin’s smokers as “cannons”. As with any veteran brisket aficionado and home-smoker, he admitted that the brisket was almost as good as his.
There were musical performances from Maggie Belle (a wisp of a woman in a green and white striped suit), Disko Cowboy and Shakey Graves. Though we caught a few tunes from the New Orleans Belle, most of the time, we were pretty far way from the stage to actually enjoy the music.
The spread-out nature of the event meant that the lines were not terribly long and people were not massed together. On the other hand, it didn’t feel as intimate an experience as previous years, unless you factor in the free hugs Chris Shepherd was giving to folks in line.
Southern Smoke Foundation was originally founded in 2015 by Chris Shepherd and his now-wife Lindsey Brown to raise funds for their friend and sommelier Antonio Gianola who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In its beginning, all funds went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Over the past few years, the mission has expanded to include mental health care for hospitality employees, aid for healthcare costs and financial assistance in times of natural disasters. However, the Multiple Sclerosis Society is still a beneficiary of Southern Smoke’s mission. One of the event’s live auction items was a trip to Burgundy with Antonio Gianola. The ending bid of $13,000 will go directly to the MS Society.
The weather was beautiful for the event and attendees were in a festive mood but the reason for the Southern Smoke Festival was perhaps no more evident than when Danny Caplinger, a young restaurant owner, was able to stand up from his wheelchair and make pizza with Chris Bianco. Caplinger suffered brain damage in a 2018 motorcycle accident and his mother was facing the tough decision of whether or not to put her son in hospice or a high-level rehabilitation facility. With Southern Smoke’s quick aid, he was able to receive the care he needed. Four years later, he was able to attend the Southern Smoke Festival with his mother as an honored guest.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
