The third annual Hot Luck Fest returns this weekend, May 23-26, as Austin’s premier culinary and music festival. Founded by James Beard Award-winner Aaron Franklin, Guerilla Suit principal and Mohawk owner James Moody, and Mike Thelin, co-founder of Feast Portland, Hot Luck announced today the chef dishes for all events. Whole Enchilada passes are now sold out, however tickets to the individual events can still be purchased at www.HotLuckFest.com.
Live music will also take place every night some of Austin’s beloved music venues, including Mohawk, Antone’s, and Barracuda with performances by Naughty Professor, Erika Wennerstrom, Leftover Salmon, Archers of Loaf, Sour Bridges, Lucero and more. The full music lineup can be found here.
This year’s schedule of events and chef dishes can be found below:
THURSDAY, MAY 23
The Giddy Up*: Mohawk (7 p.m.)
Presented by our friends at YETI, The Giddy Up is our welcome party for the Hot Luck family. All our food heroes get together to swap whopping lies and insider truths about life in the weeds. Canada’s favorite son Matty Matheson will be joined by local luminaries Callie Speer, Chad Dolezal, and Yoshi Okai for this industry shindig, with tunes furnished by Texas Piano Man, Robert Ellis, and friends. Get on down to The Giddy Up — eat, drink, and hoot with the chefs and culinary nerds behind this whole prandial extravagance.
Callie Speer (Holy Roller): Ice cream shop bodega with popsicles, snow cones, etc
Chad Dolezal (The Hightower): Hot links & beans on Texas toast
Elias Cairo (Olympia Provisions): Charcuterie
Matty Matheson: Beef and cheddar sando
Yoshi Oka (Otoko): Bluefin tuna sashimi with soy sauce + wasabi
*This event is only available via the Whole Enchilada pass. All bites are included; beverages will be available for purchase.
FRIDAY, MAY 24
Hi, How Are You?: Franklin Barbecue (7 – 10 p.m.)
Welcome to Hot Luck ‘19, and for a lot of you, welcome to Austin. Join us for this East Side backyard get-together featuring Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue—famous for the longest lines in the history of lunch. He’ll be joined by Portland heroes Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon) and Elias Cairo (Olympia Provisions), along with Texans Chris Shepherd, Rebecca Masson, Sarah McIntosh, Tavel Bristol-Joseph, Luigi’s mom, and more for a one-of-a-kind block party.
Aaron Franklin (Franklin BBQ): Brisket boudin
Chris Shepherd (Georgia James): Ribeye a la plancha with Thai-style nam jim
Elias Cairo (Olympia Provisions): Charcuterie
Fiore Tedesco (L’Oca d’Oro): Short rib lasagna
Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon): Cheeseburger flautas
Ivana & Yamila Maldonado (Cuyo): Beef empanadas
Rebecca Masson (Fluff Bake Bar): Fried birthday cake ice cream
Sarah McIntosh (Épicerie): Spam hash
Tavel Bristol-Joseph (Emmer & Rye): Egg cream, macerated berries, bay laurel
Todd Duplechan & Jessica Maher (Lenoir): Goan crawfish curry with sticky rice cake
SATURDAY, MAY 25
Al Fuego: Wild Onion Ranch (7 – 10 p.m.)
Al Fuego is Hot Luck’s main event: a live-action, flame-fueled celebration of open-air cooking styles—from Texas to Thailand. We coax the chefs to kick it casual (not that hard) and cook what they might for friends in their own backyards. We set them up with the best meats, the coldest beer, and Aaron Franklin might even build them a specialty cooker. The entire reason Hot Luck exists is to celebrate the fare rarely seen at large events—the obsessively prepared, passionately executed, inspiring food that chefs love to eat.
Abe Conlon (Fat Rice): Beef cheek rendang
Alon Shaya (Saba): Grilled beef hummus with walnuts, pickled raisins, black harissa
Andrew Wiseheart (Contigo): Pork sliders
Austin Rocconi (Hotel Ella): Crispy pork belly with early summer kimchi
Bryan Butler & Ben Runkle (Salt & Time): Pastrami short rib gyro
Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco): Rosa pizza
Doug Adams (Bullard): Pork belly, cornbread, smoked garlic, Calabrian hot sauce
Fermin Núñez & Sam Hellman-Mass (Suerte): Tacos de barbacoa, salsa roja frita, salsa verde cruda
Gabe Erales (Cuyo): Dessert Door Sotol carne apache, salsa de yema, heirloom tostada
Greg & Gabi Denton (Ox): Grilled chorizo provoleta with chimichurri
Jason Stude (East Austin Hotel): Pastrami & Swiss
Jeremiah Stone (Contra): Spring onions, radish, lardo with green romesco
Kevin Fink (Emmer & Rye): Grilled spaghetti squash, fried valencia peanuts, harissa, onion
Laura Sawicki (Launderette): Mini icebox pies
Max Snyder (Pitchfork Pretty): Grilled bacon with caviar and hot peppies
Philip Speer (Comedor): Masa & lard whoopie pie
Sarah Heard & Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic): Beef tongue pastrami tartine, mustard, & sauerkraut
Sara Kramer & Sarah Hymanson (Kismet): Grilled spring onion with muhammara and brioche toast
Steve McHugh (Cured): Chicken stuffed chicken wing
Tatsu Aikawa (Tatsu-Ya): Smoked bacon and spiced chocolate fountain
Tyson Cole and Joe Zoccol (Uchi)i: Roasted bluefin collar
SUNDAY, MAY 26
Couple de Grille: Austin Speed Shop (11 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
Sweet dreams and driving machines meet for auto-brunch at our favorite vintage garage shop in town. Whether you roll slow and low, drift furiously, or are insured through Lloyds of London, prepare yourself for a gleaming spectacle of magnificent Motorcraft and meticulous morsels, ZZ-Tapas style.
Alex Manley & Jen Tucker (Swedish Hill): Savory croissant with BBQ brisket
Andre Natera (Garrison & Revue): Char siu bacon congee
Christina Tosi (Milk Bar): Cereal milk ice cream with toppings bar
David Norman (Easy Tiger): Hot dogs
Jason Vincent & Ben Lustbader (Giant): Chef’s special scallion pancake
JB Gross (Loro): Biscuits and gravy with oak-smoked sausage and brisket fat gravy
Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due): Pon Haus
Justin Yu (Theodore Rex): Meatballs in vin jaune sauce
Katie Button (Button & Co. Bagels):Ramp & Sable on Everything: sumac-rubbed black smoked cod, pickled red onion, radish, ramp cream cheese, everything bagel
Mason Hereford (Turkey & the Wolf):McHashbrowns and caviar
Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie): Steak & eggs
Miguel Vidal (Valentina’s Tex Mex): Barbacoa tacos
Rico Torres & Diego Galicia (Mixtli): Pork belly adobada with cheddar grits
Hot Luck is proud to donate a portion of the festival’s proceeds to The SAFE Alliance. The SAFE Alliance is a merger of Austin Children’s Shelter and SafePlace, both long-standing and respected human service agencies in Austin serving the survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and exploitation, and domestic violence. Visit safeaustin.org to learn more about this amazing organization.