Bun B and Houston’s Top Chefs Put Themselves Up for Auction in Mega Fundraising Event

Ever wonder what inspires BCN and MAD chef Luis Roger or what the secret to Ronnie Killen’s barbecue perfection is? Or how about the recipe for Lucille’s chef Chris Williams’ fried chicken? Any question you want to toss at these and other amazing chefs can be yours if you are the high bidder in an online auction for a 30-minute Zoom call with the top chef of your choice.

This Thursday, July 23, Houston chefs and uber foodies are teaming up with the national #AskChefsAnything initiative that is raising funds for the immigrant workforce impacted by restaurant furloughs and closures due to COVID-19. The Houston online auction edition will support at-risk local individuals and families in the food and beverage industry through a partnership with chef Chris Shepherd’s Southern Smoke Foundation, which has been doing its part to aid hospitality workers since early in the coronavirus pandemic.

The Houston auction, accessed here, begins at 10 am on Thursday and concludes at 8 pm on Sunday July 26. Bidding begins at $100. The pressure is on for Houstonians as the Dallas initiative, held a few weeks ago, raised $8,000. To date, more than 150,000 hospitality industry individuals in need have been supported by nine city auctions with more in the planning.

The Houston roster includes not only local talent but also four-time James Beard award-winning TV personality Andrew Zimmern and Food & Wine magazine executive wine editor Ray Isle.

The initiative was founded by Gaeleen Quinn of Q&A Associates and Anna Polonsky of Polonsky and Friends, both consultants specializing in the hospitality industry. Locally, Public Content, a public relations and marketing firm, has lent its support and reports that in the first two days of the soliciting 30 chefs have signed on.

Among the three dozen local chefs participating are Justin Yu of Theodore Rex, Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar, Drake Leonards of Eunice, Manabu Horiuchi  of Kata Robata, Nicole Routhier of Le Colonial, Travis McShane (Ostia), Kevin Naderi (Roost), Paul Petronella of Paulie’s and Tim Martin of Camerata at Paulie’s, David Skinner of Eculent, Kiran Verma of Kiran’s, Dawn Burrell of Kulture and Ryan Lachaine of Riel.

Among the personalities waiting to be questioned are Bun B, prolific restauranteur Ben Berg, Recipe for Success founder Gracie Cavnar, Houston Life host Derrick Shore, ABC 13 reporter Katherine Whaley, Urban Harvest director of farmers markets Tyler Horne, Houston Chronicle food editor Greg Morago, and CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler.