The Entire Chef Lineup at Hot Luck Fest 2022, Revealed

Hot Luck Fest, the annual food and music festival from pitmaster Aaron Franklin, Mohawk owner James Moody, and Feast Portland co-founder Mike Thelin, is back again this spring, and the full chef lineup is here. The festival takes place over Memorial Day weekend, Friday through Sunday, May 26 through 29.

The entire roster of chefs are:

Cooking at the Giddy Up event at the Mohawk on Thursday, May 26

Out-of-towners:

• Chris Bianco, the pizza maker behind Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix
• Elias Cairo of charcuterie spot Olympia Provisions in Portland
• Joe Beddia, the pizza maker behind Pizzeria Beddia in Philadelphia
• Reem Assil of Arabic bakery Reem’s in Oakland

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

• Rebecca Masson of bakery Fluff Bake Bar in Houston

Austin chefs:

• Fermín Núñez of Mexican restaurant Suerte (and Eater Austin’s chef of 2018)
• Fiore Tedesco of Italian restaurant L’Oca d’Oro
• Mike Diaz of Korean restaurant Oseyo

Cooking at the Hi, How Are You? event at Franklin Barbecue on Friday, May 27

Out-of-towners:

• Amanda Shulman of prix fixe restaurant Her Place Supper Club in Philadelphia
• Andrew Taylor and Arlin Smith of seafood restaurant Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland, Maine
• Ashley Christensen of Southern restaurant Poole’s Diner in Raleigh
• Jordan Rubin of Thai restaurant Crispy Gai in Portland, Maine
• Mei Lin of now-closed Asian restaurant Nightshade in Los Angeles
• Shota Nakajima of Osaka-influenced street food restaurant Taku in Seattle (and also a Top Chef finalist this past season)

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

• Chris Shepherd of restaurant group Underbelly in Houston
• Erin Smith and Patrick Feges of barbecue restaurant Feges BBQ in Houston
• Misti Norris of New Texan restaurant Petra and the Beast in Dallas

Austin chefs:

• Aaron Franklin of barbecue restaurant Franklin Barbecue (duh)
• Kristine Kittrell of soon-to-open hotel restaurant-slash-second location of much-lauded Savannah chef Mashama Bailey’s the Diner Bar
• Laura Sawicki, the pastry chef extraordinaire who recently left her positions at Launderette and Fresa’s
• Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Caribbean restaurant Canje
• Todd Duplechan of New Texan restaurant Lenoir
• Tyson Cole of Japanese restaurant Uchi

Cooking at the Al Fuego event at Wild Onion Ranch on Saturday, May 28

Out-of-towners:

• Alon Shaya of Middle Eastern restaurant Saba in New Orleans and Denver
• Ashleigh Shanti of fish fry pop-up Good Hot Fish in Asheville
• Brad Leone, a Bon Appetit personality
• Carlo Lamagna of Filipino restaurant Magna Kusina in Portland
• Colin Yoshimoto and Earl Ninsom of Thai barbecue restaurant Eem in Portland
• Jeremy Charles of seafood restaurant Raymonds in St. Johns, Canada
• Jori Jayne and Jose Enrique of Puerto Rican restaurant José Enrique in San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Maneet Chauhan of Indian restaurant Chauhan Ale & Masala House in Nashville
• Mason Hereford of sandwich shop Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans
• Matt Horn of barbecue Horn Barbecue in Oakland
• Ravi Kapur of Hawaiian-ish restaurant Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco
• Sarah Grueneberg of Italian restaurant Monteverde in Chicago
• Shota Nakajima of Seattle’s Taku is also cooking at this event
• Stuart Brioza of seafood restaurant the Anchovy Bar in San Francisco
• Todd Pulsenelli of New American with Creole takes restaurant Hotel Chloe in New Orleans
• Zak Pelaccio, the chef behind now-closed restaurant Fish & Game in Hudson, New York

Not-Austin Texas chefs:

• Casey Wilcox of New Texan restaurant Little Trouble in Lockhart
• Dawn Burrell of forthcoming Afro-Asian restaurant Late August in Houston (she was also a Top Chef finalist in the most recent season)
• Diego Galicia and Rico Torres of Mexican restaurant Mixtli in San Antonio
• Donny Sirisavath of now-closed Laotian restaurant Khao Noodle Shop in Dallas (he is going to open an Asian-ish fried chicken restaurant instead)
• John Tesar steakhouse restaurant Knife in Dallas
• Nicola Blaque of Caribbean restaurant the Jerk Shack in San Antonio (which was also named one of Eater’s best new restaurants in the country in 2019)

Austin chefs:

• Amanda Rockman of the New Waterloo hospitality group
• Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu of New Texan hotel restaurant Lutie’s
• Christopher Schaefer of New American hotel restaurant Geraldine’s
• Davis Turner of seafood truck Huckleberry
• Edgar Rico of Mexican restaurant Nixta Taqueria (which also won Eater Austin’s restaurant of the year in 2021)
• Evan LeRoy of new-school barbecue truck Leroy & Lewis (which also won Eater Austin’s food truck of 2017)
• Jakub Czyszczon of New American hotel restaurant Garrison
• James Wilson of East Austin Hotel
• Jules Stoddart and Michael Fojtasek of Southern restaurant Olamaie (their fast-casual restaurant Little Ola’s won Eater Austin’s best pivot of 2021)
• Kareem El-Ghayesh of Egyptian barbecue pop-up KG BBQ
• Kevin Fink repping New American restaurant Hestia
• Rick Lopez of Mexican restaurant La Condesa
• Shane Stark of seafood restaurant Mongers
• Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of New American wine restaurant Birdie’s (which also won Eater Austin’s neighborhood wine bar in 2021)
• Yoshi Okai of omakase restaurant Otoko

Music-wise, there’s indie rock band Superchunk, retro-rock band Shannon and the Clams, DJ Jazzy Jeff performing with Austin’s DJ Mel, Cam Cole, Joe Marcinek Band with the Meters’s George Porter Jr., and others, performing at venues like the Mohawk and Antone’s.

There will be chefs/industry-only events as well, such as a pool party with food by Distant Relatives’s Damien Brockway, Interstellar BBQ’s John Bates, and Epicerie’s Sarah McIntosh. Ticket pickup will happen at Yeti’s store on South Congress on Thursday, May 26, where Cuantos Tacos’s Luis “Beto” Robledo will be cooking.

Tickets are on sale right now. The entire-festival-package (aka the Whole Enchilada) is $500 per person, $50 for people between the ages of 12 and 20, $75 for people 12 years old and younger, and $1,000 for families of two adults and two kids. This ticket gives access to all events and concerts, as well as the exclusive Giddy Up event.

Individual tickets range from $10 to $24 for concerts, the Hi, How Are You at $175, and Al Fuego at $225.

The festival’s charity beneficiary is hospitality-focused relief nonprofit Southern Smoke Foundation.

Also keep in mind that Franklin and Moody are opening Uptown Sports Club, a sandwich shop and bar in East Austin sometime this year. The duo might decide to preview the restaurant during the festival.

Hot Luck started in 2017, and was scheduled to take place in 2020, but was postponed to 2021, but was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic.