decanted details

Celeb chef dinners and epic wine trips available at Southern Smoke auction

Our Wine Guy is teaming up with Gail Simmons for a very special dinner.

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

What’s happening, team! The biggest weekend of the year is here! Southern Smoke Decanted happens this Saturday.

This weekend, more than 50 winemakers descend on our city to help raise funds for folks in the food and beverage industry in crisis — both through access to mental health services or emergency relief funding. This industry has been there to take care of us when we are celebrating, hosting business dinners, and simply helping us out when we are having a bad day need to post up at the bar. These are the folks that donate to your kids’ baseball team, when your charity needs a dinner, or are the first people to jump in and help their community out when tragedy strikes.

We need to make sure that we are taking care of them just as we are asking them to take care of us. You never really know what’s going on with your favorite bartender, cook, busser, or server when you don’t see them for a while. We love them, so let’s take care of them because they matter.

So how can you get involved, you ask? Well, I’m going to tell you right about now! The event itself is sold out, but the auction is BADASS. Do you like wine? Do you like trips? Do you like hanging out with me???

If you want to place a proxy bid for the live auction, it’s easy! Please register at this link (there is a button that says "Log In" in the upper right corner, that will register you!) and email victoria@southernsmoke.org the lot number of the live auction item and your maximum bid amount. All proxy bids must be placed by 12 pm on Friday, April 19. You will be notified if you are the winner after the event on April 20!

Once you’re registered, you can bid on anything in the silent auction as well! The silent auction is live now and will end on Tuesday, April 22, so you have plenty of time for those items.

Here is one live auction item that is a home run, maybe even a grand slam.

Lot #309: A Starkly Different Wine Trip

Three night stay for six people at the Mark Gunn House in downtown Yountville
Chef's tasting menu for six at The French Laundry
Lunch for six hosted by Stark Advantage at Brasswood
Private reserve tasting and lunch at the Frias estate
Super exclusive dinner for six in a wine cave, cooked by Chris Shepherd! Yep, that’s me!!
Private tours and tastings at the following wineries (all of which will also be donating a magnum or equivalent!): Pahlmeyer, Harumph, Blackbird, Tobias, Dakota Shy, Amlés, and Adversity with Russell Bevan
Driving service for three days from Perry's Wine Tours in a Mercedes Sprinter van

I mean that is outstanding! How about another one? Check this one out, because it’s at our house and will be one hell of an experience.

Lot #310: Two Celebrity Chefs, Two Rock Star Winemakers, One Dinner

Dinner Party for eight people in Chris Shepherd and Lindsey Brown's Home
Wines provided by Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards and Michael Cruse of Cruse Wine Co.
Food prepared by Gail Simmons and Chris Shepherd (yep that me)

And for one more! We are gonna kick it root down. This one is special.

Lot #314: So how we gonna kick it? Gonna kick it root down...

Three night stay for four people at Paradigm Winery’s guest accommodations near their Oakville Estate
Tour and tasting at Matthiasson
Tour and tasting at Spottswoode Winery
Tour, picnic, and tasting at Robert Sinskey Vineyards’ new Wilding Farm
Tour and tasting at Dalla Valle
Tour and tasting at Paradigm
Dinner for four at Slanted Door

This is just a handful of the live auction items, and there is an absolutely fantastic silent auction that you can bid on at any time between now and next Tuesday. So much wine and even a stay at the fantastic Blackberry Farm! You are going to be in a bidding war with me on that!

If you are in the need for a fantastic wine experience before this weekend, you should check this out. Heitz and Stony Hill Winery are in town for Decanted, so they are doing a dinner at Rosie Cannonball on Thursday night! Here are the details because you need to show up!!!

It’s a dinner featuring the rare and fine wines of two iconic Napa Estates served by Heitz Cellars winemaker Brittney Sherwood, estate director and master sommelier Erik Elliot, and Stony Hill Winery estate director Michaela Kelly. All three of them will be pouring the wines and giving special attention to each table and 'somming' for you. It's a pretty cool opportunity to enjoy an amazing dinner and also get good one-on-one time with each of the wine folks!

Champagne Welcome: Legras & Haas Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs

1st Course: Fruit & Jamon Doppio Ravioli with Caviar
2020 Stony Hill Chardonnay

2nd Course: Maitake Mushrooms with Toasted Coriander Yogurt Chilled Octopus with Gordal Olives & Leeks
2019 Stony Hill Syrah

3rd Course: Grilled Lamb T-Bones with Moutarde, Plums & Kale Pizzetta with Figs & Scamorza
2018 Heitz Cellars Trailside Vineyard
2018 Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard

4th Course: Strip Steak with Juniper & Smashed Fingerlings Grilled Rapini with Pine Nuts & Orange Zest
2018 Stony Hill Linda Falls Vineyard
2021 Heitz Cellars Linda Falls Vineyard

Dessert by pastry hef Samantha Mendoza paired with Heitz Cellars Ink Grade Port

$200 per person. Purchase via Resy.

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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 $11 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.

chefs wine news-you-can-eat fundraisers

What's Eric Eating Episodes 518 and 519

Meet the men behind River Oaks' new destination for bowls and broth

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Honest Mary’s founder Nelson Monteith and COO Andrew Wiseheart joined CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss the Austin-based restaurant that just opened its first Houston location in the River Oaks Shopping Center (2047-A West Gray St).

Monteith shares that he started the restaurant in 2017 in order to fulfill his vision of a restaurant which could serve food that’s fast, fresh, and affordable. A trained chef who operated pioneering Austin restaurant Contigo, Wiseheart joined the group to bring both culinary expertise and operational acumen to the grouping company.

Part of what sets Honest Mary’s apart is that diners can add cooked vegetables to the rice and proteins at the heart of every bowl. The “Market Sides” section includes an array of roasted vegetables — including sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, and Brussels sprouts — as well as black beans, maple-glazed carrots, and green lentils. Bowls can be further enhanced with toppings such as Texas pecans, crispy chickpeas, goat cheese, avocado, and apples as well as sauces such as creamy poblano, cashew lime crema, sesame vinaigrette, spicy peanut, chimichurri and apple cider vinaigrette

Monteith explains that looking at the ingredients on display usually inspires him when he’s deciding what to eat at Honest Mary’s.

“I will almost always look at the line and see what looks fresh and good,” Monteith says. “Today, I got the salted kale with white rice. Then, I got garlic-pepper steak. I added on lentils — they’re my go-to in the winter. They blend everything together, and I love it Then Brussels sprouts looked green. I got some jalapenos. Avocados, cause that’s healthy. Then I got the chimichurri sauce.”

Honest Mary’s is also known for its hearty broths, a classic chicken and a vegetarian option made with seaweed and mushroom. Sandler raves about the chicken broth to Wiseheart, who shares how it’s made.

“We spent six or seven months testing recipes and drinking it ourselves to see if it’s a good idea,” Wiseheart says. “I talk about it as a great complement to the menu. It’s healthy. It’s really simple. Most of the kitchens I came up with were rooted in French cuisine. This is just chicken stock with salt in it.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Honest Mary’s plans for additional locations in Houston and Dallas. Then Monteith asks a Sandler a few questions about the Houston dining scene.

In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include Home Slice Pizza opening a new location in the Heights; the closures of Brett’s BBQ Shop in Katy and Killen’s Barbecue in The Woodlands; and Esquire including ChòpnBlok on its list of America’s best new restaurants.

In the restaurant of the week segment, the two friends discuss their recent meal at Hypsi, the Italian restaurant in the newly-opened Hotel Daphne. Listen to the episode to hear their favorite dishes and other thoughts on the meal.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5.

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

news-you-can-eat podcasts interview