Southern Smoke Festival 2023 Raises $1.8M with Top Chefs & Live Music
Last updated on October 30th, 2023 at 11:11 pm
The Southern Smoke Festival 2023, presented by the Southern Smoke Foundation, is a two-day food and beverage celebration in Houston, TX that raises money for hospitality workers in crisis. This year, the festival raised $1.8 million!
This article is a recap of The Throwdown 2023 event at Discovery Green in Downtown Houston, focused on Black chefs.
Note: This is not a sponsored post nor am I affiliated with this festival or its organizers.
Food at Southern Smoke Festival 2023
What attracted me to this Houston food festival was the variety in the chef and restaurant lineup.
I sampled so many different types of food, including BBQ (and a lot of it), melon ice cream with sweetened red bean, fried catfish and lamb rotolo.
There were several Black chefs that were a part of the festival lineup and they are listed in alphabetical order by last name or restaurant name.
1. Ope Amosu of ChòpnBláťk (Houston, TX)
Roadside poulet yassa
2. Angel Barreto of Anju (Washington, DC)
Melon soft serve ice cream with mochi, red bean, strawberries, condensed milk & Frosted Flakes
3. Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Canje (Austin, TX)
Beef & lamb kofta rotolo with yogurt and harissa
4. Nina Compton of Compère Lapin (New Orleans, LA)
Jerk pulled pork sliders
5. Greg Gatlin of Gatlinâs BBQ (Houston, TX)
Smoked gumbo boudain with sauteed okra
6. Matt Horn of Horn BBQ (Oakland, CA)
Smothered oxtail on a bed of dirty rice
7. Brian Jupiter of Frontier (Chicago, IL)
Smoked duck andouille with pit smoked butter beans
8. Trill Burgers (Houston, TX)
OG Trill Burger combo with fries. And no, I didn’t see Bun B
9. Paola Velez of Bakers Against Racism (Washington, DC)
Tamarind pecan molasses panna cotta (gluten free)
10. Michelle Wallace of Bâtween Sandwich Co (Houston, TX)
Fried catfish sando with smoked oyster mayo & hot sauce
11. Chris Williams of Lucilleâs (Houston, TX)
Pig potato salad
12. Erick Williams of Virtue (Chicago, IL)
Pulled Berbere spiced lamb with harissa & pikliz slider
Note: If I did not include my own food pictures for a chef or restaurant, it’s because:
- The food ran out and/or wasn’t available when I got to the booth
- A few of the lines were really long (100+ people)…and I did not want to miss out on other food
- I couldn’t get good/clear enough pictures…because I generally take terrible pictures
Clay Williams (James Beard Award-winning food photographer and co-founder of Black Food Folks) was at the event, so check out @ultraclay for his pictures.
And if I missed anyone in this lineup, email hey [AT] profoodmaker [DOT] com.
Don't miss: Chopd & Stewd 2023 food festival celebrating West African culture at POST Houston
Overview of Southern Smoke Festival 2023
Locations & dates
Southern Smoke Festival took place Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14, 2023 at Four Seasons Hotel Houston and Discovery Green in Downtown Houston.
Ticket prices & where tickets were purchased
There were two events: The Throwdown and Respect the RosĂŠ.
Tickets could be purchased from Eventbrite.
Southern Smoke Foundation posted an Instagram story that they would stop selling general admission tickets the afternoon of Friday, October 13.Â
Respect the RosĂŠ and VIP tickets for The Throwdown sold out earlier.
So, keep this in mind for next year if you plan to buy tickets at the last minute.
The Throwdown
The Throwdown was the main event and took place Saturday afternoon, from 4 to 8 pm CT at Discovery Green in Houston.
Ticket prices were:
- $175 for general admission
- $500 for VIP (1-hour early admission & access to the VIP seating area and gifts sponsored by Lexus)
Respect the RosĂŠ
This upscale multi-course experience was hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, Friday night.
Ticket prices were:
- $500 per seat
- $5,000 per table (seats 10 people)
- $7,500 for a VIP table with âspecial winesâ (seats 10 people)
About Southern Smoke Foundation
Started in 2015, the Southern Smoke Foundation is a nonprofit that has distributed over $11 million to food and beverage workers across the US.
Southern Smoke Emergency Relief Fund
The Emergency Relief Fund is a grant created to help food and beverage workers pay for living essentials (rent, groceries, etc) due to unforeseen crises such as Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 shutdown.
To learn more about the Emergency Relief Fund and apply or donate, visit the foundationâs website.
Stay connected with Southern Smoke Festival & Southern Smoke Foundation
Website: southernsmoke.org
Instagram: @southernsmokefoundation
Twitter: @SouthernSmokeTX
