Chefs For Farmers Houston Food & Wine Festival celebrated another successful year this past weekend, September 27-28 at Autry Park, bringing together top chefs, farmers, artisans, and food lovers for a two-day culinary experience. This year marked the highest attendance ever in Houston, with more than 4,500guests across Saturday and Sunday. The festival highlighted the city’s diverse food scene, creative collaborations, and commitment to supporting local farms.<\/p>\n
The weekend\u2019s events featured almost 60 of Houston\u2019s best chefs serving curated dishes with locally sourced ingredients. Standout bites included LORO\u2019s Smoked Brisket Tostada from Chef Chris Beach, Field & Tides Southern Fried Chicken by Chef Travis Lenig, Chef Marcos Juarez of Hidden Omakase\u2019s Masu Tom Kha, and Dan Dan Noodles from last year\u2019s winner b\u0101sh\u00ec\u2019s Chef Milo Lu, showcasing flavors that spanned cultures and cuisines. Additional local chefs were in attendance from popular restaurants such as J\u016bn, Azumi, Chardon, Latuli, Eunice, Brasserie19 and some future spots opening in 2026 like Kirkwood and Long Weekend.<\/p>\n
Guests also enjoyed interactive spaces like Ros\u00e9 Ranch, Tailgate Experience, Texas Love, and Artisan Alley presented by square, where they could shop from local small businesses such as Monarca Hats, Topped Off Co.\u2019s bouquet bar, AG Leather handbags, and cookie dough from the Dough Dealer.<\/p>\n
Adding to the excitement, Best Bite presented by Stella Artois honors went to TASTE Kitchen & Bar\u2019s Big Chef Bowie for their Marinated Jerk Lamb Chops on Saturday and Chef Troy Guard of Guard & Grace on Sunday for their Oak Grilled Creekstone Farms Prime NY Strip served with Kabocha Squash Puree, Crispy Potato & Bone Marrow Salsa Macha, spotlighting culinary excellence and crowd favorites. Saturday\u2019s second place bite was Leo\u2019s River Oaks\u2019 Shrimp Ceviche in Puri, Sunday\u2019s was Azumi\u2019s Crunchy Tuna Handroll.<\/p>\n
The celebration kicked off Thursday evening, September 25 with the CFF x BMW \u201cSurf & Turf Supper\u201d hosted by Chef Aaron Bludorn at his restaurant Navy Blue with guest chefs Alberto Marcolongo (Benoit NYC) and Lamar Moore (Moore\u2019s Burger). Guests enjoyed an exclusive multi-course tasting menu featuring dishes such as Lobster Ravioli with sweet potato pure, wild mushrooms and Filet Au Poivre served with shrimp, Japanese eggplant and a delectable peppercorn sauce, with locally sourced ingredients and expertly paired wines curated by 55Seventy.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s event benefited the Houston Food Bank and Urban Harvest, raising enough to provide 17,850 meals through the Houston Food Bank\u2019s Empty Bowls initiative. The organization was onsite during the festival, selling handcrafted bowls donated by local artists, with 100% of proceeds supporting hunger relief.<\/p>\n