Chef Patrick Feges and Chef Erin Smith

When husband-and-wife team Chef Patrick Feges and Chef Erin Smith opened Feges BBQ in 2018, it was the perfect marriage of Feges’s BBQ chops and Smith’s fine-dining expertise. The accolades began rolling in almost immediately. Feges BBQ has already been named one of the Best BBQ Joints in America by Thrillist and was awarded four stars by Texas Monthly.

Smith spent her early culinary career in New York City, working at Per Se and Babbo before returning to Houston in 2010 to serve as executive chef of Plonk! Beer & Wine Bistro. After a stint there, Smith was culinary director for the Clumsy Butcher Group. Interestingly, Smith briefly traded her tongs for a corkscrew as a sommelier at the Houston wine bar Camerata. She showcased her considerable skills while wowing the judges on an episode of Chopped in 2016.