Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation Hosts a Never Before Experienced Collaboration Between James Beard Award Winner and Incredible Local Talent

The Foundation will Delight North Texas Foodies with an Exclusive, One-Night-Only, Pre-Fixe Dinner Crafted by Gifted Chefs – Chris Shepherd and Tuan Pham

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (February 14, 2022) — The Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation announced today new details surrounding the delectable, one-night-only, Pre-Fixe dinner: FROM HOUSTON TO HO NAI: A FEAST WITH CHRIS SHEPHERD AND TUAN PHAM March 31, 2022 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. This exclusive, first-time collaboration is presented as a special Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation four-course dinner that will launch the much-anticipated official return of the Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival this Spring (March 31 – April 3, 2022).

Named Best Chef in the World in 2019 by Robb Report, Chris Shepherd is a James Beard Award-Winning Chef and the nationally celebrated owner of Underbelly Hospitality. He’ll take his culinary creativity and join forces with Funky Town favorite Chef Tuan Pham (of Four Sisters – A Taste of Vietnam). Together they will create a worldwide culinary journey, fusing flavors to transport guests from Houston (Shepherd’s home base) to Hố Nai (Pham’s ancestral home in Vietnam) throughout the evening.

As an additional memento of the evening, each guest will go home with an autographed copy of Shepherd’s new book – Cook Like a Local: Flavors That Can Change How You Cook and See the World which Publishers Weekly proclaimed packed with “Flavors from around the world [that] redefine the concept of home cooking in this rich and satisfying collection.”

This exciting culinary event is new in 2022, but it is an evolution of the mission of the FWFWF to create cutting-edge and exclusive offerings that bring food lovers and beverage connoisseurs together to taste and experience talent from across the nation while simultaneously highlighting the fantastic chefs and beverage providers in the heart of North Texas.

When asked about why the FWFWF dreamt up this culinary collaboration, Festival Co-Founder and Foundation Board Chair Russell Kirkpatrick said, “We are thrilled to welcome Chris Shepherd and his team to Fort Worth. For a few years, it’s been our goal to find someone of Chris’ caliber to pair up with one of Fort Worth’s own rising stars. We feel that the collaboration between him and Tuan is going to produce an unforgettable dining experience for guests.”

Chris Shepherd + Tuan Pham Join Forces for the 2022 Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival — Chris Shepherd + Tuan Pham

Each dish will be a perfect blend of the two talents combined, Shepherd bringing his vast array of world cuisine and Pham a Fort Worth native, who is most recognized as the Chef and owner of Four Sister – A Taste of Vietnam. Chef Pham gained notoriety across the city as a chef and consultant for some of Fort Worth’s most beloved and authentic Asian cuisine including Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Café. Four Sisters is a love letter to Vietnamese flavors and the foods of Pham’s home and childhood – he’ll bring that distinct perspective to the collaboration.

The four-course dinner will be the first time a James Beard Award Winner has stepped into a kitchen to cook in Fort Worth ever! The evening gets off to a festive start with the Four Sisters’ signature Lychee 75, a sparkling wine cocktail, and continues with the first-course pairing of Shepherd’s Chả lụa with green papaya salad and Pham’s pork-mushroom bánh cuốn.

Shepherd serves his signature Viet-Cajun crawfish and noodles for the second course, and Pham brings out his beloved crab fried rice and vegetables. Another Underbelly favorite is Vietnamese fajitas, the third course matched with Four Sisters’ fried and steamed tenderloin bao. Finally, Pham offers his coffee flan with TX Whiskey whipped cream with orange, served with baked treats from the Underbelly Hospitality pastry kitchen. Specially procured wines to complement the Asian flavors will be poured, and an after-dinner cocktail served with dessert is sure to wow the palate.

In recent years Chef Chris Shepherd has invested his culinary talent in more than feeding hungry fans – launching the foundation Southern Smoke in 2015 after learning his friend and former sommelier Antonio Gianola was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The foundation has since distributed more than $9.5 million directly to people in the food and beverage industry in need via the Emergency Relief Fund. The Fort Worth Food + Wine foundation is proud to partner with a chef who is not only a leading voice in the culinary world but aligns with the foundation’s mission to support the culinary community in need.

Tickets cost $195 per seat and include all drink pairings and food, attendees must be 21 and older to attend. To purchase tickets visit: https://fwfwf.ticketsauce.com/e/2022-fort-worth-food-wine-festival

For more information about Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation or to set up an interview, please email Holland Sanders at Holland@hollandcollective.co.