On Monday, May 3, 2021 we ushered in the "Grand Outdoors" with our first (but not last) Delicious Alchemy Banquet set in the bucolic grounds of Hope Farms. After a year's confinement, our Banquet duly noted as the best dinner party of year, came roaring back with its own food-a-luscious brand of pomp and circumstance! The evening celebrated our Crystal Anniversary, as well as honored beloved food pioneer Peg Lee. Guests enjoyed a lively cocktail hour followed by an exquisite, formal seated dinner celebrating Houston's rich culinary diversity in the gloriously, verdant pastoral setting. This exquisite evening for 50 fortunate guests was once again the very best dinner party of the season, featuring 10 exquisite courses, each prepared by an extraoridnary celebrity chef and matched with award-winning wines--the meal of a lifetime! Our Gathering Barn was transformed by McDugald Steele and Flower Child Urban Flower Farm & Studio into the ultimate rustic lux, resplnedant with fresh flowers, live trees and antique pottery.

The occasion featured a loving toast to the iconic Peg Lee, a singular culinary pioneer in our town who taught so many Houstonians to cook and inspired, mentored, and supported Recipe for Success. Peg Lee began teaching cooking classes at Houston Community College in the 1970s and quickly delighted in the abundant humor that comes with the territory. A decade later, Peg became the founding director of the Rice Epicurean cooking school. In 2001, Houston's brand-new Central Market lured her away to start their, now wildly successful, cooking school where she helped attract well-known national and international chefs, often ushering them all over Houston bragging about the city's rich multi-cultural culinary world. Peg saw the waves of benefits that Recipe for Success Foundation's programs could bring, and she immediately got both Central Market and H-E-B involved. To this day, she never misses a chance to spread the word about the Foundation to chefs and food activists across the country.

The 2021 chef brigade included: Charlie Ho, Le Colonial; Erin O'Leary Stewart, Savor + Sweat; Barbara McKnight, CULINARE; Greg Martin, Bistro Menil; Martin Stayer, Nobie's; Tommy Laczynski, Ouzo Bay; Adam Stephens, Guard and Grace; Felix Florez, Cherry Block/Falcon Farms; Sasha Grumman, The Fierce Chef; Ojan Bagher, Sysco. The meal featured freshly harvested produce from Hope Farms, gourmet items from Cherry Block, Jake's Finer Foods, Brother's Produce, Teo Gelato, Fontana Coffee and Sysco with spirits from Tito's Handmade Vodka & Jack Daniels Family of Brands and wines curated by Favorite Brands. The evening, managed by Culinaire, celebrated these creative culinary masters and the culture of a shared meal.

Delicious Alchemy Banquet, has been hosted in years past in the beautiful homes of Lisa and Michael Holthouse, Becca and John Thrash and Anne and Albert Chao and has been annually lauded by the Houston Chronicle as one of the very best parties of the year! Guests and press were blown away by ! Read the raves from years past in Houston CityBook, PaperCity Magazine, Culture Map and The Houston Chronicle.

"Chefs are at the very heart of what we do," says Recipe for Success Founder, Gracie Cavnar. "It was 24 chefs - including many of this year's amazing talents -- who rolled into fourth-grade classrooms with me 13 years ago to inspire and empower children to make healthier eating decisions."

The Banquet raises 20% of the Foundation's annual budget. The next Banquet, which will be limited to 50 guests, is set for May 2, 2022. Request an invitation.