New Houston Chef Brings in His Talented Friends to Help Restaurant Workers Hurt by the Winter Storms

With his namesake restaurant open less than a year, New York transplant Chef Aaron Bludorn is jumping right into the Houston spirit of community service that the city’s culinary world embraces with fervor. On March 11, Bludorn will host a benefit dinner at his namesake Houston restaurant headlining two star chefs.

This will be the first in a series of collaboration dinners that Bludorn has planned benefitting Chef Chris Shepherd’s Southern Smoke Foundation‘s Texas Winter Storm Relief Fund.

A portion of the event’s proceeds will fuel the fund’s mission that directly aids industry workers, restaurants and purveyors whose operations and homes were damaged by the recent storms.

“It was tragic to witness the devastation felt across Texas following the winter storms; especially as we approach a more stable place in the pandemic,” Bludorn says. “Restaurants and industry workers continue to experience monumental hardships and I feel a duty to create a way for our community to unite with us while benefitting an organization that does so much for our industry.”

To join him in preparation of the five-course meal, Bludorn has tapped long-time friends — chef Mathew Peters, alum of Thomas Keller’s Per Se, and Boulud Sud’s former executive chef Travis Swikard.

Both chefs were on the road to opening their own restaurants — Peters in Austin and Swikard in San Diego — when COVID-19 sidelined their projects.

For this special evening, each of the three chefs will prepare a canapé. Swikard will prepare the first entree course: Lebanese Labne Dumplings with artichokes, confit tomatos, olives and za’tar mint pesto. Bludorn’s entree entry is Crawfish and Bandera Quail with puff pastry, asparagus, spring onion and sauce Americaine. Peters completes the entree courses with Charcoal Grilled Pork Secreto with paquillo pepper, braised pinenuts, maitake mushrooms, fennel pollen croutons and pea shoots.

The meal concludes with Strawberry Passion Fruit Pavlova with fennel pollen crumb and handmade mango sorbet. Chef Peters’ wife, Lorin Peters, will gift guests her famous Cookie Rich as a takeaway.

Tickets are $105 for adults and $35 for children under age 10. Beverages, tax and gratuity are extra. Reservations can be made here.