Chris Shepherd's
Table to Stage

Houston’s favorite chef, restaurateur, author and TV host, Chris Shepherd, has curated a season of intimate conversations for Houston foodies and restaurant industry professionals!

Table to Stage brings a celebrated selection of the top names in food and beverage to Stages for an exclusive series. With a mix of Houston’s best chefs and culinary leaders from across the country, Table to Stage allows you access to big names in our intimate theaters.

Get to know the people behind the food: what inspires them, what drives them, and how they got to where they are now. Each evening includes an intimate conversation between Chris and his guests, as well as time for you to ask your own questions.

Seating is limited for these one-night-only events. Purchase your tickets to individual conversations at the links below.

Featured Guests

• Johnny Carrabba
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, September 25, 2023
• Katie Parla
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, November 13, 2023
• Greg Gatlin*, Leonard Botello IV, and Patrick Feges
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, December 11, 2023
• Chris Williams*
  7:30 p.m. | Sunday, January 21, 2024
• Aaron Bludorn*
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, February 26, 2024
• Sarah Grueneberg**
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, March 4, 2024
• Aaron Franklin**
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, April 1, 2024,
• Priya Krishna*
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, June 3, 2024
  TICKETS AND MORE INFO
• David Chang**
  7:30 p.m. | Monday, June 10, 2024
  TICKETS AND MORE INFO

* James Beard Award nominee
** James Beard Award winner

About Chris Shepherd

Midwest-raised, James Beard Award-winning Chef Chris Shepherd has helped change the landscape of the Houston culinary scene since opening Underbelly in 2012. He built the restaurant to support the Houston food community and its suppliers by buying local and drawing inspiration from the people and cultures that live in the city. Thanks to Chris’ vision and passion, Underbelly was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, was named one of the best new restaurants in the country by Bon Appétit and Esquire and was named one of 38 essential restaurants in America by Eater. Chris was named one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2013 and was then awarded the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest.

Chris was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2019 and was named Robb Report‘s Chef of the Year the same year. Chris’ first cookbook, Cook Like a Local: Flavors That Will Change the Way You Cook—and See the World, was published by Clarkson Potter in September 2019 and was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Foundation Book Award.

Chris began his fine dining career at Brennan’s of Houston, where he spent seven years in the kitchen and then ran the wine program for two. He left Brennan’s in 2006 to open Catalan Food & Wine, which was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America that same year.

Chris’ foundation, Southern Smoke, has distributed more than $10 million directly to people in the food and beverage industry in need via the Emergency Relief Fund.