Fall foodie event

Dallas chef Tiffany Derry reveals all-star lineup for 2026 SHEF food fest

Top Chef host Kristen Kish is one of the chefs coming to SHEF Food +Wine in 2026.

Photo courtesy of Arlo Grey

After just two years, Dallas celebrity chef Tiffany Derry's SHEF Food + Wine Festival has become one of the tastiest tickets of fall. The third edition will return October 9-11 at EpicCentral in Grand Prairie, welcoming the most star-studded chef lineup yet.

According to a release, more than 40 nationally acclaimed chefs, restaurateurs, television personalities, and culinary figures will gather for three days of food, wine, spirits, panels, parties, and chef-driven experiences in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Among the biggest names headed to the festival are Carla Hall (Chef, Emmy Award-Winning TV Personality), Duff Goldman (TV Personality, Chef & Musician), Kristen Kish (Chef, Emmy-nominated TV Host for Top Chef), Erick Williams (James Beard Award-winning Chef), and Tristen Epps-Long (Winner - Top Chef Season 22), to name a few.

Notable Dallas chefs will include familiar names like Anastacia Quinones-Pittman (“AQ”), Eduardo Ossorio, RJ Yoakam, Peja Krstic, Nikky Phinyawatana, and more.

Derry, a James Beard Award-nominated chef, entrepreneur, and co-founder of T2D Concepts, founded SHEF with T2D co-founder Tom Foley. The festival is produced in partnership with Roots Impact, a T2D foundation focused on equity, mentorship, and community empowerment.

While the festival is packed with delicious food served by celeb chefs, it also has a mission: A portion of proceeds supports scholarships, workforce development, mentorship, and educational opportunities for people entering the hospitality industry.

“This festival has always been about so much more than food and wine,” Derry says in the release. “It's about bringing people together, celebrating our community, and creating opportunities for the next generation of culinary talent to learn, connect, and dream bigger."

Here's a closer look at the chef lineup and event rundown for the 2026 festival.

Culinary & celebrity lineup

Thomas Foley — co-founder, SHEF Food + Wine
Carla Hall — chef and Emmy Award-winning TV personality
Kristen Kish — chef and Emmy-nominated Top Chef host
Duff Goldman — chef and TV personality
Silvia Barban — Top Chef competitor and restaurateur
Erick Williams — James Beard Award-winning chef
Michael Voltaggio — chef and TV personality
Angelo Sosa — chef and author
Tristen Epps-Long — chef and Top Chef Season 22 winner
Kevin Bludso — award-winning chef and restaurateur
Arnold Myint — chef-owner and restaurateur
Tavel Bristol-Joseph — chef and restaurateur
Nyesha Arrington — chef, TV personality, and restaurateur
Joe Bastianich — restaurateur and TV personality
Rebecca Swindle — chef
Tobias Dorzon — chef, restaurateur, and TV personality
Osei Blackett “Picky” — chef and restaurateur
Eduardo Ossorio — chef
Anastacia Quinones-Pittman “AQ” — James Beard-nominated chef
Shirley Chung — chef and TV personality
Mika Leon — chef, TV personality, author, and restaurateur
Opeyemi “Ope” Amosu — chef and restaurateur
Dawn Burrell — Top Chef finalist
Kenny Gilbert — chef
Marcus Davis — chief steward, entrepreneur, and radio host
Uno Immanivong — chef
Samir Dhurandhar — chef
Peja Krstic — chef
Kevin Lee — chef
Meika “MiMi J” Johnson — chef
Joe Zavala — chef
Simone Byron — chef
RJ Yoakam — chef
Fitzgerald Dodd — chef
Nikky Phinyawatana — chef
Robin McBride — owner and founder
Lady Jade — emcee for Saturday's Signature Festival Experience

Festival events

Friday, October 9: SHEF SNO Social, Festival Kick-Off & Restaurant Takeover
The weekend begins with the SNO SOCIAL AT THE LANDING block party, presented by Carla Hall, featuring a meet-and-greet, Syrup + Sno treats, live music, and more. The SHEF Welcome Reception follows with cocktails and a live ice-carving display.

The evening's Restaurant Takeover at Radici Wood Fired Grill in Grand Prairie brings together Chef Tiffany Derry with Erick Williams, Silvia Barban, Mika Leon, and Duff Goldman for a collaborative dinner.

The Juke Joint at The Landing Afterparty follows, with late-night bites from Kenny Gilbert, Tobias Dorzon, Kevin Lee, and Shirley Chung, plus cocktails and live music.

Saturday, October 10: The Signature Festival Experience
Saturday begins with the Tournament of Pickleball Champions, where guests can play against celebrity chefs.

From 10 am to noon, The First Bite spotlights North Texas chefs and food makers, including Zavala's BBQ, Roots Chicken Shak, Fitzgerald Dodd, Nikky Phinyawatana, Winsome Prime, Cookie Society, Breakfast Brothers, and Smokey John's, along with wine experiences and artisan vendors.

The Guest Chef Panel, hosted by Erick Williams, features Ope Amosu, Nyesha Arrington, Tavel Bristol-Joseph, and Simone Byron discussing careers in hospitality.

The day wraps with the Grand Tasting, featuring nationally recognized chefs, wine and spirits, live entertainment, and VIP experiences.

Sunday, October 11: SHEF Matinee
The festival concludes with the SHEF Matinee, featuring conversation, entertainment, mini sips, and bites.

Tickets are on sale now, ranging from about $10 for a single panel discussion to $826 for a VIP, all-inclusive bundle. For tickets, passes, information, and the complete festival schedule, visit the event website.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun