Hot Luck Festival has announced additional talent, including new music, chefs, and more, for the food and music get-together happening May 24-27 in Austin, Texas.
Percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, music journalist, record producer, and actor DJ Questlove is confirmed to close out this year’s festival on Sunday, 5/27 at Mohawk along with may other artists and performances. Individual tickets for music events range from $15 to $35 and are available for purchase at www.hotluckfest.com/music.
Joining the Friday night event at Cisco’s Restaurant & Bakery will be Alejandro Escalante of Casa de los Tacos. Local Austintines John and Kendall Antonelli of Antonelli’s will join the lineup for the Giddy Up event on Saturday at Weather Up and Top Chef runner-up Doug Adams of Bullard in Portland, Oregon, will be added to the Saturday Al Fuego event.
Hot Luck 2018 events kick off Thursday, May 24, and continue through Sunday, May 27. Ticket options for Hot Luck offer something for everyone, with prices from $20 to $550. Chef lineup for each event below:
Hi, How Are You?: Franklin Barbecue
THURSDAY, MAY 24. (6 – 9 pm.) Meet under the stars for this East Side backyard get-together featuring Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue — famous for the longest lines in the history of lunch. We’ll eat, drink, and hoot with the chefs and culinary nerds behind this whole prandial extravagance. And we’re even opening up a limited amount of tickets to the general public this year.
Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue); Laura Aidan (Prohibition Creamery); and Sam Jones (Sam Jones Barbecue).
Night Court: Fair Market
FRIDAY, MAY 25 (6 – 9 p.m.) Hot Luck reimagines the 1980’s mall food court with some of the most inspiring chefs in America who have been challenged to create their own food court concept for one night only. A Hot Luck food court means Thai barbecue by chicken wing impresario Andy Ricker (Pok Pok, PDX and NYC), a ramen joint by noodle legend Ivan Orkin (Ivan Ramen, NYC), a burger-themed tribute to legendary food writer Josh Ozersky by meat maven John Tesar (Knife, Dallas), and a sweet shop by Austin pastry ace Laura Sawicki (Launderette, Austin).
Additional talent includes Adam Sappington (The Country Cat); Andy Ricker (Pok Pok); Bryce Gilmore (Odd Duck); Chad Dolezal (The Hightower); Ivan Orkin (Ivan Ramen); Jason Alley (Comfort, Pasture, Flora and The Paulie); Jason Stude (Boiler Nine Bar & Grill); John Tesar (Knife); Joshua McFadden (Ava Gene’s); Justin Brunson (Old Major); Justin Yu (Theodore Rex); Laura Sawicki (Launderette); Philip Speer (Bonhomie); Sarah McIntosh (Epicerie); Stephen Gerike (National Pork Board); and Todd Duplechan (Lenoir).
Cisco’s: Cisco’s Bakery and Restaurant (10 p.m. – late)
Authentic Austin often feels lost in our fast-growing city, but institutions like the old-school Mexican diner Cisco’s never leave our hearts. There, we’ve fought with family and shook on hush-hush deals, all while enjoying some of the tastiest tortillas and best company in town. For late Friday night, we’ve invited chefs Alex Stupak (Empellon, New York) and Alejandro Escalante (Casa de los Tacos, Mexico City) to the Cisco’s dining room to pay homage to this Austin institution—and to celebrate a great cuisine. Stupak brings deep technical skills and Michelin-star cred, and Escalante literally helped write the book on tacos, having edited Tacopedia for Phaidon—a taco compendium that’s published in multiple languages and boasts a forward penned by Noma’s Rene Redzepi.
Al Fuego: Wild Onion Ranch
SATURDAY, MAY 26 (6 – 9pm) Al Fuego is Hot Luck’s main event: a live-action, flame-fueled celebration of open-air cooking styles—from Texas to Thailand. Al Fuego is where we coax our chef friends out of their comfort zones and ask them to cook what they might for friends in their own backyards. We provide chefs the best meats and the coldest beer—and Aaron Franklin might even build them a specialty cooker. The end result reflects the entire reason Hot Luck exists: To celebrate the fare rarely seen at large events, the obsessively-prepared, passionately-executed, inspiring food that chefs love to eat.
Talent includes Abraham Conlon (Fat Rice); Adam Sappington (The Country Cat); Andrew Wisehart (Contigo); Ashley Christensen (Poole’s); Billy Durney (Hometown Barbecue); Callie Speer (Holy Roller); Casey Wilcox (Central Standard); Damien Brockway (P6 at the ATX Line Hotel); David Norman (Easy Tiger); Doug Adams (Bullard); Fermin Núñez (Suerte); Fiore Tedesco (L’Oca d’Oro); Jason Alley (Comfort, Pasture, Flora and The Paulie); Jason Purcell (Garrison at Fairmont Austin); Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due); Justin Brunson (Old Major); Matt Rudofker (Momofuku); Paula Disbrowe (Any Night Grilling); Rebecca Masson (Fluff Bake Bar); Renee Erickson (The Walrus & the Carpenter); Stephen Gerike (National Pork Board); Tatsu Aikawa & Takuya Matsumoto (Kemuri Tatsu-Ya); Tyson Cole (Hai Hospitality / Loro), and Zach Hunter (Brewer’s Table).
The Giddy Up: Weather Up
SATURDAY, MAY 26 (9 p.m. – late) Before America’s food revolution came into full swing, there was Balthazar—Lee Hanson’s, Riad Nasr’s, and Keith McNally’s Paris-inspired New York City neighborhood institution that forged a blueprint for what casual American dining would become. Now on their own, the duo’s brand new restaurant, Frenchette, is the talk of NYC. Meanwhile, in Montreal, Frédéric Morin and David McMillan’s Joe Beef celebrates the deft technique, light touch, and over-the-top Quebecois excess that made it one of the most chef-loved restaurants in the world. For the closing nighttime party to end all closing nighttime parties, Nasr, Hanson, McMillan, Portland charcuterie legend Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions, and John and Kendall Antonelli from their eponymous Austin cheese shop will come together for the most decadent feast of the senses Austin has ever seen.
Culinary talent includes David McMillan & Frédéric Morin (Joe Beef); John & Kendall Antonelli (Antonelli’s Cheese Shop); and Riad Nasr & Lee Hanson (Frenchette).
Coupe de Grille: Austin Speed Shop
SUNDAY, MAY 27 (noon – 3 p.m.)
Because bacon, booze, and breakfast tacos are the best ways to end a long and rowdy weekend, Hot Luck gives you Coupe de Grill—the festival’s spirited Sunday brunch gathering featuring our favorite chef friends from Austin and all over America hosted at Austin’s most legendary hot rod shop. Take in the slow and mellow Sunday vibes, check out lean, mean driving machines, and stuff your face with chilaquiles, breakfast tacos, cornbread, and more with with beer, bloodies, and fizzy wine drinks.
Culinary talent includes Bryan Weaver (Butcher & Bee); Chris Shepherd (Underbelly); Elias Cairo (Olympia Provisions); Erind Halilaj (Il Brutto); Kevin Fink (Emmer & Rye); Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie); Miguel Vidal (Valentina’s Tex Mex); Peter Cho (Han Oak); Rico Torres & Diego Galicia (Mixtli); Stephen Bonin (Geraldine’s); Steve McHugh (Cured), and Yoshi Okai (Otoko).
For more tickets and more information, please visit www.HotLuckFest.com.