There’s something in the air around Houston these days, and it’s not just ragweed. It’s the spirit of culinary camaraderie and collaboration in the form of a special kind of meal.

I’m talking about collaborative dinners — creative, multi-course meals featuring a variety of contributors: Chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, baristas, and distributors. What’s so great about them? It’s simple — the kitchens sing with jaw-droppingly creative dishes and drinks, and the diners benefit from the good-natured culinary one-upmanship.

Collaborative dinners are not a new concept, per se, but rose sharply in popularity last year. There was the Lazy Summer Repast featuring chefs from Chez Roux, Bootsie’s, and the Just 8 Project. Shortly after that came the 10/10/10 dinner: 10 courses and 10 drink pairings from Seth Siegel-Gardner, Justin Yu, and David Buehrer at Paulie’s. Beaver’s once offered a vegan dinner, and more recently teamed up with Petrol Station on a few offerings. And dozens of other places are getting in on the action. It’s a veritable Foodstock for chefs and diners alike: Peace, love, and gourmet food.

Justin Yu, a pioneer at last year’s Just August Project, says that “Chefs and collaborators really bring it during these dinners. You'll probably see a lot of food chefs might be afraid to do in their own restaurants, or can't do because of price.” Yu is set to offer his own collaborative dinner this weekend. The food will be inspired from his recent apprenticeships in Denmark, France, and Belgium, while the brews will be selected by Justin Vann, Central Market’s beer and wine manager.

Carlos Rodriguez, concept chef at Vic & Anthony’s, likes to design deliciously decadent meals in collaboration with various regional breweries. Over the past few months, he’s spearheaded dinners with Stone Brewing, Brew Dog, and Lefthand Brewing, and oftentimes includes guest chefs like Ryan Hildebrand and Rebecca Masson.

The affable Rodriguez loves the challenge of designing an innovative menu with new flavors. He also says that the dinners are “a great way to draw new people to our venue, people that might not otherwise come in. Plus, they give me a great chance to learn from chefs that have different styles and use different techniques.” You’ll certainly want to check out Rodriguez's next beer event, an uber-enticing April 8th dinner featuring Real Ale Brewing.

Pastry chef Rebecca Masson adds a little philanthropy to the concept. Every few months Masson corrals an impressive array of culinary talents for a collaborative charity dinner. The next event — on April 10 — is a seven-course doozy with Seth Siegal-Gardner (Kata Robata), Ryan Pera (Revival Market), Matt Marcus (Eatsie Boys), Jason Gould (Cyclone Anaya’s), Philip Speer (Uchi/Uchiko), Chris Leung (Bootsie’s), and Masson herself. A few tickets are still available — the $75 includes a donation to Lucky Dog Rescue.

Masson has multiple reasons for organizing these dinners: “First of all, I love being able to give back. Lucky Dog has an incredible mission — I wish I could adopt all of their dogs, but I can’t. So I do the next best thing and help them raise the funds they need. Second, I love working with the different chefs. It's hard for us to hang out because we’re all so busy. So it's super fun to be in the kitchen together.” Their love and laughter, combined with their serious kitchen expertise, makes for some incredibly harmonious dishes.

Even Van Weldon, the plucky owner of Wood Duck Farm, has been bringing in guest chefs — like Justin Basye, L.J. Wiley, Justin Yu, and Seth Siegel-Gardner — to create fabu-fresh collaborative dinners. Meals are held right there on the farm using all of the fantastic local bounty, and often include a hay ride to boot! The next dinner is slated for April 2, with Jon Buchanan of Trevisio.

Ready to experience the peace, love, and gourmet food for yourself? There are still seats available at most of the dinners mentioned above — or follow your favorite chefs and restaurants on Twitter for their latest announcements. At around $75-$85 per person, these meals usually don't come cheap, but they offer a fun, fantastical, once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience.
 
Just another reason to love that air in Houston.