Houston's best food festival

Houston's Southern Smoke Festival fires up loaded 2024 lineup of star chefs

Houston’s biggest food festival is returning for 2024 with another lineup featuring more than 50 chefs from Texas and beyond. The Southern Smoke Festival returns to Discovery Green on Saturday, October 5 with a number of innovations to make it an even more memorable experience.

As always, the event is loaded with James Beard Award winners, Food & Wine Best New Chef alumni, reality TV favorites, and some of America’s most talented pitmasters. The event raises money for the Southern Smoke Foundation, the non-profit that Houston chef Chris Shepherd and his wife Lindsey Brown started to provide cash assistance and mental health care to hospitality workers. To date, the foundation's Emergency Relief Fund has distributed more than $11 million to recipients nationwide.

The event aims to build on the success of last year’s two-day festival that raised $1.8 million and last month’s wine-focused Decanted event that raised $700,000.

New this year is a special area dedicated to the 2024 Food & Wine Best New Chefs class that will be revealed in September. Shepherd, a member of the 2013 BNC class, tells CultureMap that he sees the festival as an opportunity for these rising star chefs to get to know each and begin building important professional relationships.

“It’s trying to set the groundwork for them as a group to learn about each other and maybe meet some other new people,” he says. “It’s a nurturing process. You want them to learn about each other. We felt like it was a good thing to do with the BNCs.”

Also new this year is a culinary stage that will host cooking demonstrations. The headliner is Christina Tosi, the superstar pastry chef behind Milk Bar. Other participants include Top Chef winner Brooke Williamson, acclaimed pitmaster Pat Martin, and star chefs from New Orleans and Austin, including Ana Castro, Fermin Nunez, Mason Hereford, Kevin Fink, and Tavel Bristol-Joseph.

“It’s a different interaction for people to have,” Shepherd says. “Maybe if you get tired of eating, you take a break, grab a drink. You can watch someone cook something. It gives people multiple things to do throughout the day.”

Finally, nine wine bars from Houston and beyond will pour their favorite selections. Local participants include 13 Celsius, Lees Den, Montrose Cheese & Wine, Stella’s Wine Bar, and The Library.

Of course, the core of the event remains the same — a tasting served by Shepherd and his fellow Beard Award winners, including Aaron Franklin (Franklin BBQ), Ashley Christensen (Raleigh, NC), Jason Stanhope (Charleston, SC), and Sarah Grueneberg (Chicago). They’re joined by a number of chefs from across the country, including Top Chef: Masters winner Chris Cosentino, Top Chef fan favorite Lee Anne Wong, and star pitmaster Rodney Scott.

Austin chefs are also well represented. In addition to Franklin and the chefs leading demonstrations, the roster includes Chelsea Fadda (Pecan Square Cafe), Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel (Birdie’s), and Beard Award winner Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria).

As always, Houston chefs are enthusiastic participants. Returning locals include Ope Amosu (ChopnBlok), Tastemaker Award winner Aaron Bludorn (Bludorn), Leonard Botello IV (Truth BBQ), Food & Wine Best New Chef Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemo), Tastemaker Award winner Abbas Dhanani (Burger Bodega), Tastemaker Award winners Quy Hoang/Robin Wong/Terry Wong/Arash Kharat (Blood Bros. BBQ), Beard Award winner Benchawan Painter (Street to Kitchen), Ryan Pera (Coltivare), Tastemaker Award winner Martin Stayer (Nobie’s), and current Top Chef contestant Michelle Wallace (b’tween the slices). Houston chefs joining the festival for the first time include Tastemaker Award winners Lucas McKinney (Jospehine’s) and Don Nguyen (Khoi Barbecue) as well as Austin Simmons (Tris).

VIP ticket holders get a few exclusive bites prepared by Kate McLean (Tony’s), Paola Velez (Bodega Bakes, Dōekï Dōekï, Washington, DC), and Billy Durney, who will be serving the acclaimed burgers from his restaurant Red Hill Tavern.

Tickets go on sale July 9 at $225 for general admission and $500 for VIP, which comes with early admission, a dedicated VIP area, and other perks. For the ultimate experience, sponsor a local or visiting chef for $5,000 or $10,000, respectively.

The event raised $1.8 million.

Photo by Emily Jaschke

Last year's event raised $1.8 million.

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firing up Montrose

New Houston seafood restaurant adds live-fire flair to Japanese flavors

Photo by Becca Wright

Spanish sea bass, scallop crudo, nigiri, bluefin binchotan, and bluefin crudo.

An ambitious new seafood restaurant is coming to Montrose next week. Casa Kenji will open on Tuesday, December 9.

Located in the former Andiron space (3201 Allen Pkwy), Casa Kenji is the first Houston project for New Orleans restaurateur Malachi DuPre, a former LSU standout who played briefly in the NFL before establishing Kenji and Kenji Kazoku restaurants in New Orleans. Together with former LSU teammate John “B-John” Ballis and Houston chef Bigler “Biggie” Cruz, Casa Kenji will blend Latin and Japanese influences while also incorporating live-fire elements into the restaurant’s dishes. Cruz, whose resume includes a lengthy stint at Uchi as well as working at critically acclaimed Houston seafood restaurant Golfstrømmen, tells CultureMap that Casa Kenji’s approach is the first time he can be himself in the kitchen.

“My perfect restaurant was always based on the live fire and sushi combination,” Cruz says. “My mom cooked with wood for my entire life. The live fire creates completely different flavors. The smoky flavors, the sear from the charcoal — they create a different type of memory for me.”

The use of live fire techniques will permeate Casa Kenji’s menus in ways both big and small. For example, diners will be able to feast on prawns grilled directly on charcoal and served with yuzu chili garlic, or savor lightly seared Japanese wagyu tataki paired with mushrooms. Even raw dishes will benefit from the restaurant’s wood-burning grill and stove.

“Every vegetable we peel, we make into an ash that’s a topping for the dishes. It adds a different layer of flavor,” Cruz says. Look for it in the scallop aguachile, among others.

Even vegetables get a smoky component, as in a cabbage dish that’s braised with dashi and soy sauce before being roasted and served with an onion soubise that Cruz says he developed based on techniques he learned from Golfstrømmen chef Christopher Haatuft.

“It’s rich, super savory, with smoky layers, and you get brightness from the shiso gremolata. I think it will be a signature dish for us,” the chef says.

One change to the interior is the addition of a six-seat omakase counter that looks into the kitchen. Cruz promises those diners will have an even more elevated experience than the restaurant’s regular menu, including ingredients such as Japanese wagyu and premium fish flown in from Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market.

Beyond its cuisine, Casa Kenji hopes to stand out with its spacious outdoor patio. Since very few Japanese-inspired restaurants in Houston offer outdoor seating, it should appeal to diners who want a little vitamin D along with their tuna crudo.

“We’re proud to showcase the craft and creativity that defines Casa Kenji,” co-founders Cruz, Ballis, and DuPre said in a statement. “With chef Bigler Cruz at the helm — blending live-fire technique with the discipline of Japanese tradition — we’re equally honored and excited to share a unique concept that is truly rooted in passion, culture, and community.”

Casa Kenji will be open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday beginning at 4 pm. Reservations are available on Resy.

Photo by Becca Wright

Spanish sea bass, scallop crudo, nigiri, bluefin binchotan, and bluefin crudo.