Schedule

Saturday, April 26, 2025
4–7 p.m.

Celebrate the incredible cuisines of Houston at a special BBQ edition of Asia Society Texas' annual tasting tour, presented with Blood Bros. BBQ.

Terry Wong, Robin Wong, and Quy Hoang have curated a selection of stand-out, innovative chefs who are each presenting a dish that showcases their stories as chefs and, in turn, reflects the diversity and ingenuity of the Houston food scene. For this year's Homegrown Houston theme, they have challenged an illustrious lineup of chefs to deliver their best take on cooking, smoking, and live-fire traditions uniting Texas and Asia, through barbecued meats and plant-forward dishes alike. In addition to the tasting tour of Houston — featuring Filipino, Burmese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and much more — the evening also includes a DJ, drinks, and games to create a BBQ tailgating party you won’t forget!

Tickets are inclusive of one dish from each chef/vendor, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. This event takes place in our parking lot. Street parking is available; we encourage rideshare and public transit as well.

Featured Food and Drink by

Chef Quy Hoang of Blood Bros. BBQ
Serving: Reverse-Seared 44farms Hanger Steak with Shishito Pepper Chimichurri

Chef Christina Au
Serving: Pandan Rice Pudding with Mango

Chef Marvin He of Phat Eatery

Chef Suu Khin of Burmalicious
Serving: BBQ Lemongrass Chicken Salad with Toasted Peanuts, Crispy Shallots, and Tamarind Fish Sauce

Chef Ara J Malekian of Harlem Road Texas BBQ

Chef Gabriel Medina of Subo HTX
Serving: Filipino Pork Belly BBQ Skewers with Scallion and Atchara Pickles

Chef Niki Vongthong
Serving: Grilled Lemongrass Teres Major (Baby Tenderloin) with Spicy Nam Jim

About the Chefs

Christina Au graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas, and spent her formative culinary years as part of the opening teams for Houston’s Pass and Provisions, Cloud 10 Creamery, and Common Bond, with stints under chef Chris Ford in Los Angeles and the newly opened Four Seasons Philadelphia. Eager to reconnect with her craft during the pandemic, Au started her own pastry pop-up in Houston, eventually winning CultureMap’s Tastemakers 2022 Pastry Chef of the Year. Today, Au heads the pastry program at Blacksmith and the Greenway concepts as their Pastry Chef, leading the wholesale bakery program while supplying her signature baked goods across the city at their various locations.

Trained in Switzerland, Chef Ara Malekian spent his childhood cooking in the kitchen with his grandmother. He moved to the U.S. in the late 1980s and was eventually recruited by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. After spending years on the road working in various restaurants, he developed an affinity and love for Texas barbecue and has created his own unique brand at Harlem Road Texas BBQ. A maker of many cuisines, chef Ara's classic cooking and contribution to the local community continues to feed Houston’s soul. He sources his ingredients from local farmers, ranchers, artisans and purveyors. He has opened 15 restaurants across the country.

Chef Marvin He is a Houston-based chef, known for his work at Phat Eatery, where he's a key figure in carrying on the legacy of the late chef-owner Alex Au-Yeung. Located in Katy Asian Town and The Woodlands. Phat Eatery is the vision of the late Alex Au-Yeung, a 2022 James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas. The restaurant has earned an enthusiastic following for its freshly prepared Malaysian street food, relaxed atmosphere, and warm hospitality. Influenced by Au-Yeung's upbringing in Hong Kong, his Malaysian heritage, and both culture’s rich histories of borrowing from other culinary traditions, Phat Eatery offers interpretations of regional specialties.

Born and raised in Burma, also known as Myanmar, Chef Suu Khin is the visionary chef behind Burmalicious, a platform dedicated to unveiling the richness and depth of Burmese cuisine. Her passion for Burmese cuisine led her to become the first Burmese contestant on MasterChef US, where she finished as a runner-up. This success inspired her to transform Burmalicious into a pop-up concept, hosting monthly dinners and events at farmers markets and festivals. Her efforts have earned Burmalicious recognition as one of Houston’s best pop-ups by Eater in 2022 and multiple nominations for Best Pop-Up/Startup at the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards from 2023 to 2025. Recently, Suu was named a semi-finalist for the 2025 James Beard Award in the Emerging Chef category.

Gabriel Medina is a Houston-born Filipino American chef with two decades of experience. He has worked internationally such as in Japan (Narisawa in Tokyo) and the Philippines (Harana in Siargao), as well as at locally renowned establishments including Kata Robata, Soma, and Aqui. Now focusing on his greatest passion, he has launched his own Filipino business called Subó, which translates to "the endearing act of feeding others" and is open every Saturday morning at Urban Harvest Farmers Market.

Born in Laos and growing up with parents from Issan in Northeast Thailand, Chef Niki Vongthong developed a love for pairing sticky rice with funky, fresh, and spicy food. In 2012, she was a member of the opening crew of Uchi Houston, where she worked as a Sushi Chef/Kitchen Chef for almost six years. She then served as Executive Sous Chef for the opening of Aqui in Montrose. After living and working in Thailand, Niki returned to the United States and worked at Hidden Omakase where she became Executive Chef in April 2021. During her three years there, she was nominated for CultureMap’s Tastemaker Awards in 2021, 2022, and 2023 as Rising Star Chef, Best New Restaurant, and Chef of the Year. She also won third place in 2022 and first place in 2024 in the Truffle Masters competition.

About Blood Bros. BBQ

Blood Bros. BBQ is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed barbecue joints in Houston. Decades after growing up together in Alief, Quy Hoang and brothers Robin and Terry Wong developed a shared appreciation of good food and good times with good friends and eventually launched Blood Bros. BBQ. Their ingenious mix of classic Texan barbecue with Asian food traditions captured Houston’s unique spirit and the hearts of barbecue lovers everywhere. Blood Bros. BBQ has been named Best Barbeque in Texas by the Michelin Guide, one of the 20 Best Texas Barbecue Restaurants by The New York Times, one of Texas’ Top 50 BBQ Joints by Texas Monthly, and one of America’s Best New Restaurants by Bon Appétit.

About Phat Eatery

Located in Katy Asian Town (2018) and The Woodlands (2024) Phat Eatery is the vision of the late Alex Au-Yeung, a 2022 James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas. The restaurant has earned an enthusiastic following for its freshly prepared Malaysian street food, relaxed atmosphere and warm hospitality. Influenced by Au-Yeung's upbringing in Hong Kong, his Malaysian heritage and both culture’s rich histories of borrowing from other culinary traditions, Phat Eatery offers interpretations of regional specialties. The menu includes Chef’s award-winning beef rendang, curry laksa, nasi lemak, sizzling egg tofu and flaky roti canai in addition to stir-fried noodles, rice and vegetable dishes, house dim sum and seasonal specials, alongside a Southeast Asian-influenced cocktail program. Ever-growing success and critical acclaim, including as one of Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 Restaurants since it opened, has led to overwhelming popularity and three expansions of the Katy restaurant to accommodate more than twice as many guests and the addition of a private dining room, as well as a second location in north Houston twice the size of the Katy location. In CultureMap’s Tastemaker Awards in 2022 and 2024, Au-Yeung was a Chef of the Year nominee, and the restaurant was nominated for Restaurant of the Year. Phat Eatery is regularly named among the 38 Essential Houston Restaurants by Eater and was highlighted by The New York Times as one of “America’s Next Great Restaurants” in the suburbs.

Performing Arts and Culture programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Syamal and Susmita Poddar. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, The Brown Foundation, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, The Clayton Fund, Houston Endowment Inc. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Wortham Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming to Asia Society Texas.

Performing Arts and Culture Presenting Sponsors

Syamal and Susmita Poddar

Performing Arts and Culture Program Sponsors

Program Partner
 

Food Sponsors

Drink Sponsors

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.

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