pack your knives

2 Beard-recognized Houston chefs competing on new season of Top Chef

Two Houston chefs packed their knives and traveled to Toronto to compete on the new season of Top Chef. Bravo revealed the 15-person cast for season 22 of the show, which was filmed in various parts of Canada and will premier on Thursday, March 13.

Both chefs bring impressive resumes to the competition, although one is likely more familiar to Houstonians.

Henry Lu Top Chef Season 22 Chef Henry Lu is competing to win $250,000.Photo by Marcus Nilsson/Bravo

Henry Lu is one-half of the chef duo behind Heights restaurant Jūn. His co-owner, Evelyn Garcia, reached the finals of Top Chef season 19, which was filmed in Houston. Both Garcia and Lu have earned two James Beard Award semifinalist nominations — one for Best New Restaurant in 2024 and for Best Chef: Texas in 2025. Prior to moving to Houston, the Bronx native worked at a number of restaurants in New York City, including Pearl and Ash and Llama Inn.

Tristen Epps Top Chef Chef Tristen Epps' Top Chef headshot.Photo by Marcus Nilsson/Bravo

Tristen Epps recently returned to his hometown of Houston after working in Miami and New York. He earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation for his work at Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster in Miami and a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination in 2024 for his work at Ocean Social by Tristen Epps, a waterfront restaurant at the Eden Roc Miami Beach. He is currently working on opening Buboy, an intimate tasting menu restaurant devoted to Afro-Caribbean foodways.

The show’s winner will earn a number of prizes, including $250,000 provided by Saratoga Spring Water, $125,000 flight credit from Delta, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and a dinner at the James Beard House in New York. As was the case last season, Quickfire challenges are now an opportunity to earn cash, rather than immunity from elimination, with a total prize pool of $150,000 up for grabs during the course of the season.

Judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons are both returning, as is host Kristen Kish, who took over for Padma Lakshmi last year. Throughout the season, the contestants will explore different parts of Canada, including Toronto, Calgary, and Banff National Park. Guest judges include culinary legends and Top Chef alumni such as Richard Blais, Nina Compton, Danny Garcia, Gregory Gourdet, Buddha Lo, Daniel Boulud, Wylie Dufresne, Susur Lee, and Clare Smyth.

Here’s a sneak peek at this season's action:

Courtesy of Jūn

Henry Lu, right, is following Evelyn Garcia's footsteps by competing on Top Chef.

a sort of homecoming

Houston director Wes Anderson headlines fundraiser for historic theater

Photo by Lars Niki/Getty Images for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

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Acclaimed Houston-born filmmaker Wes Anderson may call Paris his home these days, but he’s always ready and willing to come back home to support a worthy cause.

The Oscar-winning auteur will attend an evening celebrating his 30-year career in filmmaking, presented by Arthouse Houston. Titled “Wes Anderson Homecoming Soiree,” the event takes place at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts’ Zilkha Hall on Friday, July 17. It will also benefit the preservation of the historic Garden Oaks Theater and founding of a new Arts & Film Center.

The evening will include a “Founders Experience,” followed by a reception with food and drinks, live music by the Kelly Doyle Trio, and a silent auction. After that, Anderson will introduce a quintet of his short films he selected for the occasion. These shorts include Bottle Rocket (which he later expanded into his 1996 feature-film debut), and The Swan, one of the shorts from The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, his only-on-Netflix collection of mini-Roald Dahl adaptations.

Donors at the Founders level will be treated to a meet-and-greet and Q&A with Anderson and friends prior to the show, including a celebratory toast, and a signed show poster. Top-tier donors (starting at $100,000) will have naming rights within the new Arts & Film Center and four complimentary tickets to the event. Proceeds will directly help the effort to preserve one of the city’s few remaining historic cinemas, as well as create a new cultural hub where cinema, live performance, production, and education converge.

Houston won’t be Anderson’s only American stop next month. From Friday, July 10, to Sunday, July 12, he’ll be in Los Angeles for the Hollywood Bowl’s “Music from the Films of Wes Anderson” concert series, featuring performances from Beck, Jackson Browne, Devo, Bill Murray, and others.

For tickets and more info on the event, go here.

wes anderson houston fundraisers preservation