The James Beard Award winner sits down to talk diversity in the kitchen, the Southern Smoke Foundation, and what's next after closing One Fifth.
When Chris Shepherd announced he was stepping back from his namesake restaurants in 2022, Houston's dining world held its breath.
Two years later, he's busier than ever — but on his own terms.
'The most important thing a restaurant can do,' he tells us between sips of mezcal at his Heights office, 'is reflect the city it's in. Houston is 145 languages. If your kitchen isn't representing that, you're missing the point.'
Shepherd's Southern Smoke Foundation has now distributed over $11 million in emergency relief to hospitality workers nationwide. His next venture, he hints, is less restaurant and more 'platform for the cooks who actually feed Houston every day.'
We talk knife skills, burnout, the brisket-versus-snapper debate, and why he thinks the next generation of great chefs are coming out of taco trucks, not culinary school.
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