Aaron Franklin’s Hot Luck Festival Adds More Chefs and Musicians

Hot Luck Festival, the first-ever food and music event from pitmaster Aaron Franklin, James Moody, and Mike Thelin, added more names to its music and chef lineups, including the full brunch series breakdown.

Since it’s Austin, each concert comes with themed food. Take female Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife, who are playing on Friday, May 19, alongside Japanese dishes from Otoko's Yoshi Okai. Other musical performances include Black Lips (performing on Thursday, May 18), former Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore (on Wednesday, May 17), Robert Ellis, and others.

Then there’s Hot Luck’s brunch series, where visiting chefs will shack up with local restaurants for the midmorning Sunday meal on May 21. Reservations for these can be made through each individual restaurant. New chefs were added to the overall lineup, including a bunch of local ones (Salt & Time, Jeffrey’s) and elsewhere like Portland’s Elias Cairo. Scope out these additions below.

Brunch Series’ Lineup:

• Adam Sappington (The Country Cat Dinner House & Bar in Portland) at Contigo with Andrew Wiseheart
• Joshua McFadden (Ava Gene’s and Tusk in Portland) at L’Oca d’Oro with Fiore Tedesco
• Steve McHugh (Cured in San Antonio) at The Hightower with Chad Dolezal

Additional Hot Luck Chefs:

• Elias Cairo, Olympia Provisions, Portland for “Hi, How Are You?”
• Jennifer Tucker (Jeffrey's) for “The Hi Lo”
• Justin Brunson (Old Major, Denver) for “Hawaii, Texas”
• Ben Runkle (Salt and Time) for “Hawaii, Texas”
• Kristine Kittrell(Weather Up) for “Hawaii, Texas”
• Laura Loomis (Two Bros BBQ Market, San Antonio) for Al Fuego

Hot Luck Festival takes places from Thursday to Sunday, May 18 through 21. Guests can purchase a la carte tickets to individual events and concerts ($12-$23) and the marquee food events ($145-$155). Or opt for everything with The Whole Enchilada package, which includes a barbecue with Franklin and Kogi's Roy Choi, and a tiki party, for $550. The festival is donating a portion of its proceeds to Safe Alliance.

• Aaron Franklin’s Hot Luck Festival Lineup Is Here With Austin Chefs and More [EATX]