CELEBRITY-FILLED CHARITY EVENT BEEFS UP LINEUP
A lot of superstar chefs make their way to Houston for special dinners and foodie events. And why shouldn’t they? Houston is both a philanthropic powerhouse and culinary destination.
But rarely do food and philanthropy merge with such passion and high-profile connection as with this year’s Southern Smoke, a barbecue and live-fire blowout from 4-8 p.m. Sunday in the blocks surrounding 1018 Westheimer. A fundraiser organized by Underbelly’s Chris Shepherd, Southern Smoke is notable for the boldface names that make it one of the country’s most exciting barbecue events.
Southern Smoke already presented a formidable lineup of luminaries including Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin; Rodney Scott of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, S.C.; Ashley Christensen, owner of Poole’s Diner (and other concepts) in Raleigh, N.C.; John Besh of New Orleans restaurants including August, Lüke and Willa Jean (as well as the upcoming Eunice in Houston); and Mike Lata and Jason Stanhope of FIG Restaurant in Charleston, S.C.
Then, last week came the news that Southern Smoke was adding five-time James Beard Award winner David Chang and Matthew Rudofker, director of culinary operations for Momofuku, Chang’s famous chain with branches in New York, Washington, Sydney, Toronto and Las Vegas. Shepherd said Chang’s participation happened very naturally: “Right after the hurricane we talked and he said, ‘Let me know what I can do.’ I said he was welcome to come cook at Southern Smoke. He said, ‘Let me work it out.’ ”
The Momofuku addition also increased the footprint of the festival, which is held on the “campus” of Underbelly, the Hay Merchant, Blacksmith and that now will include parcels off California between Commonwealth and Waughcrest. This year’s expanded event will welcome up to 1,500 people; last year a sold-out crowd of 1,200 attended.
For foodies, the festival represents an opportunity to eat from the hands of the biggest names in the food world.
Chang will be doing Korean-style short ribs using 44 Farms beef. Franklin, whose barbecue mecca suffered a fire during Hurricane Harvey, will be serving his signature brisket.
Scott’s got the whole hog covered. Christensen will turn out roasted oysters. Lata and Stanhope may be doing whole fish tacos.
And Besh might be dipping into some smoked lamb neck.
And there’s so much more: The HOUBBQ Collective (James Beard Award-winning Justin Yu, Coltivare’s Ryan Pera, the Pass & Provisions team of Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan, as well as cooks from Underbelly and
One Fifth) will have their own area. Look for paella and fried chicken cooked over live fire from the collective.
And other Houston chef bigshots also are participating: James Beard Award-winner Hugo Ortega, SaltAir’s Brandi Key, Lyle Bento of Southern Goods, Kata Robata’s Manabu Horiuchi, Cane Rosso’s Jonathan Jones, Patrick Feges of Feges BBQ and Richard Knight of the late Hunky Dory.
And the hooch will be flowing — Knob Creek is hosting VIP lounges and tasting tents — as well as wine and beer. Live music too, from Bayou City
Brass Band and Folk Family Revival.
Now in its third year, Southern Smoke originally was designed as a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It raised $464,000 in the first two years. The organizers shifted gears after Hurricane Harvey’s catastrophic flooding. So this year’s event has partnered with Legacy Community Health to provide emergency financial assistance for employees of the culinary and beverage community affected by the hurricane.
“For a dishwasher to lose his car, that’s hard. For a busser to have his house flooded out, that’s traumatic,” Shepherd said. “And for servers and waitstaff who lost money after the storm when nobody was going out to eat, that hits home really hard.”
Still, Southern Smoke is about having a good time. And there’s every reason to expect that this year’s blowout will be bigger and better. The barbecue bash’s larger footprint means there’s even more space to party, and enjoy another bite or a bit of booze.
“It’s going to be a great time,” Shepherd said. “One of the things we do well is throw parties. We’re good at that.”