show some respect

Chris Shepherd invites Houston wine lovers to an epic rosé-fueled party

Respect the Rosé has come a long way since its first year.

Courtesy of Chris Shepherd

It’s hot, it’s rainy, and we are just at the beginning of that beautiful part of the year we call summer in Houston. There are two things that I think of that can help us get through — rosé wine and a party.

Not just any party but one that lets you get loose, dress for an occasion, and celebrate life’s great days together. Luckily, I know of one of these amazing days. They don’t come along very often, but I have one that you cannot miss. This party is somewhat of a revival in many ways. Here are all the ways that this party — we call it Respect the Rosé — is amazing.

First, we are bringing back the Respect the Rosé crew of chefs. Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer from Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Hog & Hominy, and other amazing restaurants in Memphis; Ryan Prewitt and Stephen Stryjewski from Peche, Cochon, and other fine restaurants in New Orleans; and Victoria Dearmond and myself (I get to do a course!) from Southern Smoke and the crew from Brennan’s of Houston! We have been doing this dinner for more than seven years together and every one is better than the last.

Respect the rose chefs These chefs like to party — and drink rosé.Courtesy of Chris Shepherd

The idea for this dinner was born back in 2016 when Michael, Andy, Ryan, Stephen, and I were all at an event, and we kept finding ourselves sitting back and enjoying some rosé. Keep in mind that rosé all day was not a thing back in 2016, so believe me when I say we started the trend! This is something to be celebrated!

Second, we are reviving your Derby day outfits as this year’s party has been deemed

Run for the Rosés! The chefs will do our takes on classic Kentucky dishes like tea sandwiches, the Hot Brown, Derby Pie, and more. Is porchetta a classic Kentucky dish? I don’t think so, but Andy and Michael make an outstanding one, so that’s what you can expect from them.

For the wine, well, you guessed it! We’ll be pouring rosé from some of our favorite producers like Hirsch, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, Handwritten Wines, Simon, Raventos, Robert Mondavi Winery, Cruse Wine Co, Rumor, Miner Family Vineyards, and more! It’s not just going to be all rosé but red wine and other libations, too!

You can check out some new cars from our presenting sponsor Lexus with fun activities like making your own flower bouquets and posing for vintage photos. Our friends at OpenTable, Tabasco, and Pellegrino will be there, too!

The third revival is a personal one for me. I get to come back to the place that really set me on my way. I get to go home for one night to Brennan’s of Houston where I worked earlier in my career for nine beautiful years. I learned so much from my time there that absolutely put me on my path. I learned how to cook there, how to be an organized cook, a thoughtful cook, a cook that learned seasonality and how to source locally. I learned how to apply a gentle steady pressure on myself to be better.

Chris Shepherd Brennan's Nice hat, Chris.Courtesy of Chris Shepherd

I had the chance to work for seven years in the kitchen and run the wine program for the last two. The family at Brennan’s embraced my desire to learn more and be more. I will forever be grateful for my time there and the friendships I made there.

The fourth and final revival is that of an industry. This dinner is a big fundraiser for the Southern Smoke Foundation, which is building a safety net for the food and beverage industry that has seen a lot of turnover in the last few years. People found other careers because when times got tough, they got really tough for the restaurant industry. We need to rebuild it brick by brick — when affordable health care is available or when there is enough money in the bank account to be able to refill a refrigerator when unexpected storms come through our area leaving homes and restaurants without power, we will no longer be needed. Let’s be honest. That’s not happening anytime soon, so we all have to come together to do our best to take care of those farmers, cooks, waiters, bussers, bartenders and everyone else that helps to put food and beverage on the table, makes your cup of coffee or works those long lines at Chick-fil-A.

Yes, Southern Smoke helps to provide emergency relief and access to no cost mental health counseling across the nation in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Since 2017, Southern Smoke has granted over $12 million and provided access to over 5,000 mental health counseling sessions. It’s doing the actual work, and the team is not slowing down. Southern Smoke has granted more than $260,000 just to those in our area affected by the Derecho storm last month and is still funding. We haven’t even gotten into the season that we don’t talk about.

So what does all this mean to you? If you skipped all the way to the bottom of this or you actually read it (I thank you for that), then I’ll tell you. You get to dress up and have a party! You will eat some amazing food from some amazing chefs. You will drink some absolutely fantastic wines from some fantastic vineyards. You will get to support an industry that needs it more now than ever and here is the bonus — you can get all this and a tax write off! It’s an absolute WIN WIN! I will see you there!

Buy tickets ($500 each) at the Southern Smoke website.

-----

Contact Chris via email at chris@chrisshepherd.is.

Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $12 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund. Catch his TV show, Eat Like a Local, every Saturday at 10 am on KPRC Channel 2.

fundraisers wine chefs

Destination-worthy baked goods

Texas influencer's monthly bakery pop-ups are road trip worthy

Joy the Baker Joy Wilson Popup Bellville

Photo by Alexander Irwin

Houston resident and cookbook author Joy Wilson has opened a bakery pop-up in Bellville, just an hour's drive from the city.

It sounds like a Hallmark movie plotline: a big-city girl moves to a small town, buys a rambling Victorian house, and opens a bakery.

But in this version, the heroine is cookbook author, food blogger, and social media star Joy Wilson — better known as Joy the Baker. And the bakery is Texas Bakehouse, a monthly pop-up hosted behind her 1800s home in Bellville, just about an hour’s drive from Houston.

Photo by Alexander Irwin

Houston resident and cookbook author Joy Wilson has opened a bakery pop-up in Bellville, just an hour's drive from the city.

Wilson relocated to Houston in 2023 after closing the original Bakehouse in New Orleans, making the move to be closer to her now-husband. The pair settled in Rice Military and dedicated weekends to riding their motorcycles west, with Bellville quickly capturing Wilson’s imagination.

“One day we were having lunch out there and I said, ‘I'm going to move here. I think I'm going to buy a house and move here,’” Wilson recalls. “My husband was like, ‘Let's do it.’ And it was just as simple as that decision.”

Once a month, Wilson opens the doors to her backyard bakeshop for pre-ordered bakery box pickups. Each box includes four items anchored by a signature giant chocolate chip cookie, with the remaining pastries rotating seasonally.

The soft opening in November featured sweet potato pie, lemon poppy seed kolaches, and chai-spiced apple fritters. December followed with cranberry crumble galettes, cheddar and chive scones, and oversized Linzer cookies.

After taking January off to recover from the holidays, Texas Bakehouse is back in February with pre-orders open for pickup on Saturday, February 7.

This month’s Galentine’s Day offering is an eight-inch, heart-shaped chocolate cake filled with fresh raspberries and whipped cream, finished with Swiss meringue buttercream and a piped Drake lyric — a nod to Wilson’s viral Drake on Cake era. Buyers can choose between “No new friends” or “Nice for what,” with each cake accompanied by a locally made floral arrangement from Wanderlust and Wild.

Lemon blueberry biscuits and the bakery’s signature chocolate chip cookies will also be available for walk-up purchase from 9 a.m. to noon, served with a complimentary cup of Bellville’s own Interstellar Coffee.

For Wilson, the Bakehouse was always part of the plan.

“I knew that if I was moving out here, I wanted a house with a story, a place people would want to visit and experience,” she says. “I’ve been here about a year and a half, and it just took time to get a grip on the nuts and bolts of the house. But I always intended to have a little bakery pop-up here.”

The location also makes it an easy day trip for Houstonians looking to get out of the city. Texas Bakehouse sits just blocks from Bellville’s downtown square, where visitors can wander antique shops and explore the small-town charm before heading home.

“People can come here, pick up baked goods, have a visit, and then go experience the town and community, too, all on foot,” Wilson says. “That feels very special.”

Looking ahead, Wilson plans to expand the Bakehouse with intimate cooking classes, likely beginning in fall 2026, inspired by the small-group classes she once hosted in New Orleans.

----

Texas Bakehouse is located at 310 E Palm Street in Bellville, Texas, about an hour west of Houston. Pre-orders and pickup details are available at shop.joythebaker.com.

news-you-can-eat desserts joy the baker