O h what a day — two days actually — when the Chefs for Farmers Food & Wine Festival took over Houston’s Autry Park with a throng that totaled a record 4,500 food lovers with close to 60 chefs cooking up a storm for the benefit — in part — of the Houston Food Bank and Urban Harvest. Add wine and beer vendors and craft merchants to the mix for a bountiful afternoon.

The event has come a very long way from its beginnings in 2010 as a small dinner party where Dallas resident Iris Midler and her then husband — James Beard-nominated Chef Matt McCallister — entertained several dozen for a chef-led dinner featuring local produce. Today, the Chef For Farmers festival, which runs a full weekend in both Houston and Dallas, is a juggernaut of culinary exploration.

“I did not expect that at all. I

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