Houstonians have a lot of things to be thankful for, though heat, hurricanes and humidity can make us feel a bit sorry for ourselves at times. However, we always pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, or flip flops, and have a drink, eat some barbecue and help each other to make it through the tough times. That’s how we roll in Houston and no organization expresses the “take care of our own” sentiment as much as the Southern Smoke Foundation. And its annual Southern Smoke Festival just keeps getting bigger, raising more money and reaching more people in need.
This past Saturday, Southern Smoke Festival took over most of Discovery Green with a party of epic proportions. We at the Houston Press have been fortunate to cover it for the past several years and it has always been an orgy of delicious food, creative cocktails and a rollicking good time but this year, at least in our opinion, was one for the books. And speaking of books, the SSF can add over $1.5 million to its coffers thanks to the hard work of its multi-state team and the generous hearts of Houstonians and others who traveled to the Bayou City to support the causes it avows.
The Southern Smoke Festival was founded in 2015 by James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd and his now wife, Lindsey Brown, to raise funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor of their friend and sommelier Antonio Gianola who was diagnosed with the disease. Its mission switched gears after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and the Gulf Coast in 2017. Seeing the need of hospitality workers and local businesses dealing with catastrophic losses, SSF began its Emergency Relief Fund to provide financial assistance for medical care, lost wages and much more to eligible applicants. It has increased its mission to include Behind You, a mental health initiative, and has added states like California, Illinois and Louisiana to its outreach in addition to Texas itself.
Not only has the mission expanded but so has the party. This year’s Lexus VIP tickets sold out and at $500 a piece, it means folks are willing to shell out the big bucks to have a good time at one of the biggest food extravaganzas in Houston. The general admission tickets were $250 and covered drink, food and entertainment plus a few freebies being given away.
While last year’s VIP tickets included a glamorous tent set up, this year’s VIPs got to enjoy the air conditioned interior of The Grove, a two-story restaurant at Discovery Green. Nestled among the live oaks, it set the tone for a special evening. VIP tickets also included an extra preview hour for noshing and imbibing. Guests were met by Tony’s Executive Chef Kate McLean and Chef Olivier Ciesielski offering cracked King Crab legs topped with crispy fried shallots and grapefruit aioli along with East Coast oysters with a saffron pearl that popped in the mouth. The seafood was provided by Alaskan Seafood.
Since McLean was once a contributing writer for the Houston Press before returning to the 24/7 world of executive cheffing, she made sure my companion, Classic Rock Bob, and I got a shot of the grapefruit gin and tonic that was elaborately poured down a huge, color-changing ice sculpture. The Tony’s crew had gone for a nautical theme which prompted my husband to ask where Captain Stubing was. That was his first dad joke of the day but certainly not his last.
Taking over the bar at The Grove was Houston’s James Beard Award-winning bar owner, Alba Huerta of Julep. We were given two Emerald Coladas, a refreshing cocktail of coconut, pineapple and banana liqueur. We should have had another because it was no longer available toward the end of the evening due to its popularity.
We headed outside where there were several drink and food stands only available for VIP ticket holders. Paola Velez was creating Shaved Ice Baked Alaska at her Bodega Bakes, Doeki Doeki but I arrived right as she was leaving to do a cookbook signing. I satisfied my curiosity by grabbing a photo of another attendee who had snagged theirs in time. There was also the Yeti cooking demonstration stage plus more partying upstairs at The Grove, with Bill Durney’s team from Brooklyn’s Red Hook Tavern serving sizzling 45-Day Dry Aged Tavern Cheeseburgers.
We strolled through the main line-up of tents, hitting some of Houston’s top chefs right away. Chef Benchawan Painter from Street to Kitchen was our first stop and what a way to begin. The 2023 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Texas had created a dish in keeping with her “unapologetically Thai” ethos. The hor mok plah was grilled Alaska sole, also listed as flounder, with a curry sauce that left a satisfying little burn in the mouth for a while. CRB and I both love fresh fish and Chef Benchawan’s was one of the best bites of the day.
Surrounded by other top chefs, we tried the bun bo nuong from Blood Bros. BBQ., short rib pastrami sliders from Aaron Bludorn, cheeseburger samosas from Abbas Dhanani’s Burger Bodega and Viet-Cajun shrimp garlic noodles from Trong and Cory Nguyen’s Crawfish and Noodles. Everything was delicious but I could have slurped up a lot more of the Viet-Cajun garlic butter sauce if left alone with a jug of it.
Classic Rock Bob and I then made a beeline for the Uncle Nearest tent. We’d both seen interviews with author and entrepreneur Fawn Weaver about Nathan “Nearest” Green who is believed to be the first African American master distiller in our nation’s chaotic history, having taught the Lincoln County Process to the Reverend Daniel Call and a young orphan named Jack Daniels. Enslaved at the time of his initial mentoring of Daniels, he became head distiller for the whiskey distillery after emancipation. Weaver was so taken by the history of Green, she co-founded Nearest Green Distillery and Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2017.
Its whiskeys have received numerous awards since 2019. The young woman pouring asked if CRB wanted it straight up or as a whiskey sour. He went for the cocktail and it was a mighty potent one at that. I don’t drink much whiskey but it was smooth going down, which is all I need.
The skies overhead began to darken a bit but it never rained and the clouds helped to keep the temperatures at a more reasonable level than we have seen for the past few months. We headed to Trill Tenders where Mike Pham was handing out perfect, just- fried chicken tenders, served with two sauces, Pink OG and Soy OG. We overheard Pham saying that the Soy OG was based on a recipe from his grandmother and it was truly the superior of the two sauces, with a sweet taste of ginger and garlic.
We took a break from the action for a bit and just people-watched. CRB was impressed by some folks who had brought their own trays to the event. One young woman had a circular tray with several food items and a cold beer as she sat down on one of the Adirondack-style chaises. There seemed to be more seating and a few more tables this year, making it easier and more pleasant for attendees to actually sit back and enjoy the multiple dishes being served.
There was also music on the Anheuser-Busch stage from Straight No Tequila. Conveniently, there were SSF monogrammed blankets set out on the green hill, another nice touch this year. Lindsey Brown reminded guests to take a walk over to the other side of the venue for the 2024 Food and Wine: Best New Chefs. We’d been recommended the sweet potato bao from Camari Mick, who is executive pastry chef at The Musket Room and Raf’s. It was more like a yeast roll, beautifully browned with just the right amount of sweet potato puree inside. If we could serve these at our Thanksgiving feast, we would be superstars.
We grabbed a spicy cocktail from Sean Umstead of Kingfisher in Durham, North Carolina. We were also indulging in a THC Louie Louie beverage from Winnie’s, which had a seafood rangoon from Graham Laborde and Benjy Mason. Full of crab and crawfish, it tied for best bite, in our opinion, with Chef Benchawan’s fish curry. Or maybe it was the Texas quail saltimbocca from Chelsea Fadda from Pecan Square Cafe in Austin. The skin on the tiny quail was super crisp and the sauce on top was similar to a buerre blanc, adding just the perfect amount of acidity. Or wait, perhaps it was the shrimp and grits hush puppy from Ashley Christensen’s North Carolina restaurant Poole’s Diner. We loved it all.
There were too many things to try and we didn’t make it to some of the barbecue tents that always get the love like Franklin Barbecue, Truth BBQ, Rodney Scott’s BBQ and Gatlin’s BBQ. Toward the end of the evening, our stomachs were battling our taste buds. Somehow, though, I managed to make a trip up the stairs by myself at The Grove and enjoy a half-burger from Red Hook Tavern while gazing out from a treehouse-like terrace toward the festival itself. While the burger was more rare than I am used to, I scarfed it up because the beef flavor was strong in this one and the char on the outside took it to a whole different level.
I headed out of the air conditioning and back to the stage to visit with some friends and a cousin who appeared out of nowhere. One of our friends returned with the coveted shaved ice Baked Alaska. It was an interesting flavor, almost of peanuts. By this time, my palate was worn out. We listened to the band and awaited the big check reveal.
As the sun began to set, chefs and their teams were starting to mill about in the crowd, enjoying some well-earned drinks and food for themselves. Shepherd introduced Chef Silver Iocovozzi, a JBA finalist for Best New Restaurant 2023 and also one of the Food and Wine Best New Chefs 2024. The owner of Neng Jr’s in Asheville, North Carolina, he talked about the difficulties facing many restaurants and businesses hard hit by Hurricane Helene this past September. At least they know, Southern Smoke has their back.
Then Shepherd and Brown took the stage with many of their team members to reveal the final number that had been raised for the evening. When Shepherd turned the check around and showed a total of 1.5 million dollars, the crowd cheered. Shepherd turned to look at his wife who had tears in her eyes.
It was a successful evening for the Southern Smoke Foundation but it was also a beautiful night for Houston.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
