We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Shepherd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chris , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

One night in 2015, my friend and former sommelier Antonio Gianola asked if I could host a fundraiser for the MS Society. After learning Antonio had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier that week, I decided to throw a party with some of my chef and pit master friends and ultimately raised $181,000 for the MS Society.

The event grew each year, with more chefs from around the country traveling to Houston to raise money for a great cause. When Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and the food and beverage industry, we quickly changed our mission for both the Southern Smoke Festival and the Foundation to provide financial assistance to anyone in the food and beverage in crisis nationwide. We continue to serve up flavors from some of the country’s best chefs at our annual festival, all to benefit our fellow industry workers across the U.S.

Our Emergency Relief Fund gets industry individuals financial help just as soon as they need it. Grants have been used to pay for essentials like groceries, clothing, and medications, and have covered the cost of car repossessions, rent, natural disaster damages, lost wages, and more. To date, we’ve distributed more than $10.5 million directly to people in need.

We’ve also launched no-cost counseling to anyone in the food and beverage industry in five states, and we continue to grow.

The food and beverage industry has no safety net, which is what we are here for.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My bio –

Chef Chris Shepherd has helped change the landscape of the Houston culinary scene since opening Underbelly in 2012. He built the restaurant to support the Houston food community and its suppliers by buying local and drawing inspiration from the people and cultures that live in the city. Thanks to Chris’ vision and passion, Underbelly was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, was named one of the best new restaurants in the country by Bon Appetit and Esquire and was named one of 38 essential restaurants in America by Eater. Chris was named one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2013 and was then awarded the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest.

Chris was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2019 and was named Robb Report‘s Chef of the Year the same year. Chris’ first cookbook, Cook Like a Local: Flavors that Will Change the Way You Cook—and See the World, was published by Clarkson Potter in September 2019 and was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Foundation Book Award.

Chris began his fine dining career at Brennan’s of Houston, where he spent seven years in the kitchen and then ran the wine program for two. He left Brennan’s in 2006 to open Catalan Food & Wine, which was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America that same year.

Chris’ foundation Southern Smoke has distributed more than $10.5 million directly to people in the food and beverage industry in need via the Emergency Relief Fund.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The restaurant business pivoted many times during COVID! We worked with a local grocery store to sell take-and-bake meals. I hosted about 150 virtual cooking classes in my kitchen to keep staff employed and the business running. The Southern Smoke Foundation went from 2 employees in February 2020 to 40 employees in April 2020. From March 2020 to March 2021, we distributed $6 million to food and beverage industry employees in crisis nationwide.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I decided to leave my restaurant group in September 2022 to focus on the Southern Smoke Foundation and to reconsider my future. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but the opportunities that I’ve been presented with since then have reinforced the fact that I made the right decision. I’m focusing more on media, on consulting, and of course, the Southern Smoke Foundation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://southernsmoke.org
• Instagram: @cshepherd13
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChefChrisShepherd

Image Credits
Julie Soefer, Daniel Ortiz