Youth Development Center board members and co-chairs, Kristen Barley and Richard Flowers with board member Chuck Yates.
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Youth Development Center board members and co-chairs, Kristen Barley and Richard Flowers with board member Chuck Yates.
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The assembled chefs donated their time to the Youth Development Center.
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The assembled chefs donated their time to the Youth Development Center.
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Richard Knight, formerly of Hunky Dory, currently of pop-up series Breaking Bread, plating Cow Pies, potpies filled with local beef.
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Richard Knight, formerly of Hunky Dory, currently of pop-up series Breaking Bread, plating Cow Pies, potpies filled with local beef.
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Bobby Matos of State of Grace with his team.
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Bobby Matos of State of Grace with his team.
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Izakaya’s Jean-Philippe Gaston delivers one of his creations to diners.
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Izakaya’s Jean-Philippe Gaston delivers one of his creations to diners.
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Mark Holley of Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar.
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Mark Holley of Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar.
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Martha De Leon of Pax Americana.
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Martha De Leon of Pax Americana.
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William Wright of Helen Greek Food & Wine addresses his table.
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William Wright of Helen Greek Food & Wine addresses his table.
How do you attract donors to a benefit for the Youth Development Center in the Fifth Ward? It may help to tell them that the after-school academic program for at-risk kids in first through sixth grades is improving students’ skills. Last year, 100 percent of first grade participants have improved their independent reading skills. But a more selfish but no less important reason is to give is attendance at Bon Vivant Houston.
Subtitled “A Culinary Experience to Remember,” the event is just that. On March 27, diners gathered at the Royal Sonesta Hotel for prix-fixe meals cooked by many of Houston’s most sought-after chefs. For fan boys and girls, it’s the perfect way to get to know a chef better—every dish is cooked tableside for an intimate group of 10. But that doesn’t mean meals were any less formal an affair than they would normally be: La Table’s famous heritage chicken, appropriately carved à la table, was presented just as it is at the restaurant, for example.
The event raised $200,000 for the Youth Development Center, and satisfied numerous bon vivants.
Alice joined Houstonia in November 2015 and has been relishing exploring the city’s vibrant food scene ever since.
She began her journalism career at age 13 with a cult film criticism ’zine. As an adult, stints with WWE Magazine and EatingWell led to her job as senior food writer at Vermont’s alternative newsweekly, Seven Days, in 2008. In that capacity, she became one of the state’s most well-known TV and radio personalities. Her first book, Vermont: An Explorer’s Guide, was published in 2015. Alice has won an AltWeekly Award for Best Food Writing, two Daysies for Best Print/Online Journalist, and two "Top Social Foodie" awards from Burlington Social Media Day.
