Dallas Chefs on TV

Catch these 3 Dallas-Fort Worth chefs on national TV

Dallas-Fort Worth may have missed out on this season of Top Chef, but that isn't stopping local chefs from getting on TV. Three are scheduled for small-screen appearances, as detailed below, in order of appearance.

Chad Houser on The Rachael Ray Show
On Thursday, October 30, chef Chad Houser will appear on The Rachael Ray Show, where he'll talk about Cafe Momentum, the restaurant that provides paid internships, training and mentoring for juvenile offenders, slated to open in downtown Dallas in December. The segment is titled "Meet a Chef Who is Using Food to Change Lives," and it airs on KTXA-TV (channel 21) at 10 am.

If dreamy Houser isn't enough incentive, also appearing on the episode is actor Tom Selleck.

Chef John Tesar on Esquire's Restaurant Revolution
Chef John Tesar, of Knife and Spoon, will appear on an Esquire network one-hour special called Restaurant Revolution, focusing on Esquire magazine's best new restaurants list. The show will profile chefs who made the most recent list along with chefs who have appeared on it in years past. Tesar, described by the show as "one of the most controversial chefs working today," will appear along with Wolfgang Puck, Jonathan Waxman and Tom Colicchio.

The special airs on November 12 at 7 pm Dallas time, and it is produced by Magical Elves, producers of Top Chef, who know all too well that Tesar is must-see TV.

Blaine Staniford on Food Network's Kitchen Inferno
On November 19, Blaine Staniford, executive chef at Grace in Fort Worth, will appear on a new cooking competition show on the Food Network called Kitchen Inferno. It is hosted by Curtis Stone and pits chef-contestants against each other in a culinary showdown. A panel of industry leaders judges the dishes to determine a winner for each round. The winning chef can take the money or risk it for a grand prize of $25,000.

The show premieres on November 5, but Staniford appears November 19 at 9 pm.

Cafe Momentum's Chad Houser hobnobs with Tom Selleck and Rachael Ray.

Photo courtesy of Rachael Ray

Cafe Momentum's Chad Houser hobnobs with Tom Selleck and Rachael Ray.

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Concert News

State Fair of Texas hosts full day of music featuring Fort Worth bands

Photo courtesy of TRVR?

TRVR? will be one of four Fort Worth musicians getting a special showcase at the State Fair of Texas.

For the very first time, the State Fair of Texas will welcome bands from a neighboring city to take over the stage for a day: Hear Fort Worth Day will spotlight Fort Worth musicians who will perform throughout the afternoon and evening on Monday, October 5.

According to a release, four Fort Worth music acts will get their own special showcase, performing on the Bud Light Stage (near Cotton Bowl Stadium) all day long, with sets starting roughly every two hours between 1 and 7:30 pm.

This marks the first time Dallas neighbor Fort Worth has its own day at the State Fair of Texas, which welcomes more than 2.5 million attendees over 24 days.

Kicking things off at 1 pm will be TRVR?, an independent artist known for introspective, relatable, and wholesome songwriting. Under his birth name, Trevor Douglas, TRVR? first found the spotlight at 16 with a Top 24 finish on American Idol.

Following him at 3 pm will be Mollie Danel, who was named Fort Worth Weekly’s 2026 Female Vocalist of the Year. Danel has developed a distinct voice and lyrical identity, with her recent EP, Sunshine Girl, confronting mental health, loss, and doubt with hard-won hope.

Third up at 5 pm will be Matthew McNeal, who has released five studio albums alongside longtime collaborator Andre Black, including HIGHLONESOME, which recently won the 2026 JAMBALOO Music Prize.

The day will wrap up with a performance by singer-songwriter .Marcel. at 7:30 pm. He pairs sultry R&B crooning with rapid-fire, rhyme-based prose, earning a reputation for slow-burning tracks of remarkable sonic depth.

The showcase is presented by the Hear Fort Worth Music Office, a division of Visit Fort Worth that is dedicated to amplifying the city's local music scene.

"It’s an honor to showcase our city’s sounds on one of the biggest stages in Texas, the State Fair,” Tom Martens, executive director of the Hear Fort Worth Music Office, says in the release. “This is a big opportunity to export our music to bigger audiences and promote tourism to our city.”

For more information, visit BigTex.com. Fairgoers are encouraged to beat the traffic by riding DART or, if traveling from Fort Worth, Trinity Metro.

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