2021 COMMUNITY HERO
Chris Williams was always destined to be a chef; he simply didn’t know it yet. Drawn to study food from a young age, he attended Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas, and soon began traveling around the world, working in eateries from Lithuania to England to the U.S., and all points in between. His insatiable hunger to learn everything about world cuisine unexpectedly led him back to his own family tree. Chef Williams heard bits and pieces about his great-grandmother, Lucille Bishop Smith, but it wasn’t until he began developing his own restaurant concept that he discovered a family history steeped in mouthwatering Southern cuisine. Smith was a culinary pioneer in her own right, achieving everything from establishing her own food corporation and penning her own cookbook turned collector’s item to landing her famous chili biscuits on American Airlines flights and serving the likes of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis.
In August 2012, Chef Williams opened Lucille’s in a 1923 Mission-style home in the Museum District. Pairing his great-grandmother’s ingenuity and Southern flair with flavors from his travels, he treats diners to well-refined Southern cuisine enhanced by international flavors and techniques. Nearly a decade in the making, the namesake restaurant has since morphed into Lucille’s Hospitality Group — a culmination of concepts that channel his great-grandmother’s historic legacy.
Classically trained in French, Mediterranean, West Indian, and East African cuisine, Chef Williams fittingly served as the lone culinary cultural ambassador for the USA for three years, advancing food diplomacy in destinations like Slovenia, Croatia, and Ukraine. Chef Williams is also a member of the Southern FoodWays Alliance, an organization that documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. Williams’ most recent endeavor — his non-profit Lucille’s 1913 — mimics the ethos of his restaurant group and its namesake, functioning as a conscious community collective that is building a vertically integrated ecosystem to combat food insecurity and waste; create training and employment opportunities in traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods; and empower communities to discover a self-sustainable livelihood through food. To date, Chef Williams and the Lucille’s 1913 team have provided more than 160,000 meals to Houstonians in need since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christopher Williams
Founder and Owner
Lucille’s Hospitality Group
www.lucilleshospitalitygroup.com
