Where Tilman Fertitta, Jim Crane, 50 Cent & C.J. Stroud Mingle — A Real Exclusive Inside Look At The Cotton Q Club’s VIP Lair

Crystal chandeliers, 20,000 red roses and more VIPs than imaginable once again made the Cotton Q Club the ONLY place to be on opening night of the World Champion Bar-B-Que Contest, which leads up to the official Houston Rodeo kickoff. The 700 guests who made it past the roped entry (as opposed to the traditional velvet rope) were treated to flowing beverages, lavish barbecue buffets and the tunes of Tucker Wetmore.

The VIPs perched in the Golden Pony Lounge, so named for the life-sized gilded equine on display, were treated to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s Le Chemin du Roi champagne and Kaluga caviar from Ciel, the rocking club/restaurant on San Felipe. The luxe environs in this Golden Pony Lounge are worthy of any private club.

We savored special hors d’eouvres from Cotton Culinary and enjoyed the elegant surroundings where Cotton Holdings founder and co-CEO Pete Bell advised us is the “place to kick off your boots and relax.” Indeed, with this scribe from PaperCity the only reporter allowed inside the hallowed VIP setting, it was a heavenly retreat from the buzzy main room.

There are seldom other occasions where Houston Astros billionaire owner Jim Crane, Houston Rockets billionaire owner Tilman Fertitta, Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo board chair Pat Mann-Phillips and 50 Cent, the Grammy and Emmy award winning musician.

Heading that lists as hosts of the event were Bell and Quanta Services CEO Duke Austin. The barbecue “tent” (which is grander than any tent you’ve ever seen) is named after these companies for good reason. Cotton Holdings once again serves as title sponsor of the World Champion Bar-B-Que Contest.

joining that duo as host of the three nights of elevated partying was the glamorous  Zinat Ahmed, Cotton Holdings executive vice president of marketing & branding and the creative force behind most of Cotton Q Club elements.

Bell allows that this year the tent, that blew the lid off of barbecue cook-off pop-ups when it first launched, was expanded to 12,000 square feet to accommodate the 700 hundred or so people that passed through the swinging doors each of the three nights.

Opening night was indeed a par-tee with Bell, Austin, Jackson and Ahmed on stage making a resounding “Let’s rodeo” champagne toast as red confetti rained down on the throng.

Estimated to cost as much as $1 million, this three-day extravaganza is worth it all, Bell argues. “It’s such a benefit not only to give a thank you to our employees but also for our clients,” he tells PaperCity.

Across the three nights, from 70 to 100 staffers from Cotton Culinary, one of the varied branches of the company, are on call to prepare the food for the throng. This year, the team was pumped as they had just won the Peoples Choice Award at the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition.

On the wild opening night, the menu included pork belly with mission fig chili glaze, grilled angus ribeye, petite loaded potatoes, bacon wrapped scallops, Cotton brie balls with peach bourbon chutney and more.

While part of the Cotton Holdings team was at NRG park for the barbecue festivities, its disaster relief teams were at work in Kentucky where the floods caused much devastation and in Palisades, California, where the fires ravaged the landscape.

“We are total solution providers for any type of disaster, whether it’s natural or man made,” Bell says. “In the US and beyond, we can mobilize in 24 hours. We’re like a hotel, we never close.”

The company has 50 offices, 1,000 full time employees and the ability to add 5,000 more when and where needed.

PC Seen: Whitney Crane, Sanette Austin, Nancy and Jose Almodovar, Tony Bradfield, Derrick Shore and Brandon Bourque, Frank Billingsley, Teressa Foglia and Ty Hays, Brittany Hildebrand, Jeffery Hildebrand Jr., Joanna Marks, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Debbie and Rudy Festari, Fady Armanious, Alicia and Lance Smith, Elia Gabbanellli, Donae Chramosta, Mike Cavendar, Donna and Norman Lewis, and Andre Johnson.