Welcome to our 9th Annual Dallas All Star Chef Classic!

Letter from CEO, Marsha Williamson

Welcome! Over the past year, we have introduced many new endeavors and programs, including our new mission statement, which I am excited to share with you! Dallas 24 Hour Club provides transitional living, support services, and essential life skills for homeless alcoholics and addicts, so they can embrace long-term sobriety and become contributing and self-supporting members of the community.

Additionally, I am excited to share how The 24’s services have expanded over the past 24 months!

• Tillman House is named after our founder, Lee Tillman. During the pandemic, Reconciliation Outreach Ministries offered to sell us their 18-unit apartment complex, located just around the corner, which we purchased and opened on March 1, 2021. It now houses 41 of our “Successful Graduates.” Nebraska Furniture Mart provided the furniture, so our Residents have a fully furnished home when they move in. Residents are supported by full-time staff, which allows them to hone their life skills. Our Successful Discharge Rate is 70%! Donors shared over 40 pieces of art to encourage our residents’ recovery, thanks to Gavin Delahunty, an Advisory Council member.
• Resident Statistics: Center for Nonprofit Management has developed a sophisticated statistical dashboard for The 24, which manages our resident data, collected in both facilities at Resident Intake, Discharge, and also Weekly. We can now produce unique reports for supporters with reliable and dependable statistical information, verifying our model’s success.
• Stuart Bright Life Skills Program: A Brighter Life!: Providing a robust Life Skills Program for our Residents has been a big goal. We launched the it this year and named it in memory of our strong supporter, Stuart Bright. We host monthly “in-person” classes and will launch a robust “online” life skills program soon. Additionally, computer labs are available for residents’ use.
• Educational Opportunities: Most of our residents are not making a living wage upon graduation from The 24, and affordable housing is scarce, leading them back into poverty, homelessness, and addiction. Education can be the difference maker, and The 24’s Resource Partners are helping!
  • Dallas College’s “MakeReadyU”: This is a no-cost adult education program that teaches the skills needed for college or practical career trades such as welding, hospitality management, computer user support, machining, mechatronics, culinary, etc. These options allow our people to obtain a career and earn a better than living wage. They can also get their associate's or bachelor’s degree!
  • Texas Tech University: Two of our residents are enrolled at Tech this fall via an invitation from Tech’s Center for Collegiate Recovery Communities which is designed for their students with substance abuse disorders. Recovery, academic support, and scholarships are provided to our Residents and several more plan to attend in the spring semester. Tech alumni are providing additional scholarships!
  • Employment Opportunities: De La Vega Capital/Development and The Village Dallas are offering a variety of jobs for our residents. Their intent is to support solutions for homelessness.

Finally, my heart overflows with gratitude for our event leadership: Chairs Kimm and Shannon Wynne, Honorary Chairs, Chefs Paula Lambert and Stephan Pyles and Honorary Chef Chair, Chef Janice Provost, our Presenting Sponsor, Ben E. Keith Company, our marvelous Chefs, our “In Kind” Sponsors and Silent Auction Donors. Most of all, I join our Board of Directors in giving our Sponsors a hearty thanks for your investment in The 24. Our residents deserve the second chance that you are offering them!

Marsha Williamson CEO of Dallas 24 Hour Club

MEET OUR CHAIRS

CO-CHAIRS: Kimberly and Shannon Wynne

Kimberly Daulton Wynne is a fifth generation Californian but got to Texas as fast as she could at age 10. After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in Journalism and Graphic Arts, she spent 25 years in the Dallas ad agency business working for Tracy Locke/DDB Needham, Publicis and as an Executive Producer in the post production business. Kimm has devoted her time to many non-profit organizations including Alliance for Children of Ft Worth, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Operation Kindness and Dallas Pets Alive. Having left the corporate world 10 years ago she continues to support causes for both two and four-legged friends, including her three new grandbabies. Kimm is also an avid fly fisherwoman, enjoys creating mosaics, costumes and anything else the she can get her hands on.

Shannon Shelmire Wynne has been in the restaurant business since 1980, having built such innovative Dallas concepts as 8.0 Bar, Nostromo, The Rio Room, Tango, Rocco Oyster Bar, the Fast and Cool Club and others. Shannon is the President of Eight-O Management, LLC, Flying Fish, LLC, and Moth Management, LLC which currently owns and operates five concepts with 31 units in six states, including the Flying Fish, the Flying Saucer, Meddlesome Moth, Miriam Cocina Latina and Rodeo Goat. Shannon graduated from Trinity University with a degree in Biology.  He is currently on the Board of Directors for Dallas 24 Hour Club and The Dallas Historical Society. He has also served on the boards of The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, North Texas Food Bank and KERA among other non-profit organizations. Shannon met his wife Kimberly 23 years ago, is the proud father of six children, grandfather of three and is a fifth generation Texan. He is an avid fly fisherman, art collector and chicken farmer.

HONORARY CHAIR: Chef Paula Lambert

Paula Lambert founded Dallas' Mozzarella Company in 1982. Today her company has grown from making a few pounds of fresh mozzarella to producing over 30 artisanal cheeses, all of which Paula has created and developed. Paula's cheeses have won hundreds of awards and accolades and are known far and wide for their excellence. The cheeses are sold throughout the USA to fine restaurants and stores.

Applauded as one of America's pioneer artisanal cheesemakers, Paula is the author of The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide (2000) and Cheese, Glorious Cheese! (2007). The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide was recently been released in paperback.

Paula takes an active role in many professional organizations including The American Cheese Society, Les Dames d'Escoffier, The Culinary Trust, AIWF, WCR, and NASFT. She currently serves on the boards of Dallas' Better Business Bureau, and Uptown Dallas Public Improvement District. Her accolades include: James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America, the Career Achievement Award from Mary Baldwin College, the Award of Excellence from the IACP as Entrepreneur of the Year and from the Dallas Historical Society for Creative Arts. She is a past-president of the IACP.

A frequent radio and television guest, Paula travels extensively, speaking before groups and teaching cooking classes throughout the USA as well as in Italy and France. She recently founded a new company, Viaggi Deliziosi, and enjoys taking small groups of food lovers to Italy to explore the culture, cuisine and countryside in depth.

HONORARY CHAIR: Chef Stephan Pyles

Stephan Pyles is a pioneer of New American Cuisine, having been at the forefront of the renaissance in American cooking a generation ago. He is also the founding father of Southwestern Cuisine, which dominated the American food scene for two decades.

Chef Pyles, a fifth generation Texan, has opened 23 restaurants in 6 cities over the past 35 years, including Stephan Pyles, Routh Street Café, Baby Routh, Star Canyon, Stampede-66, and Flora Street Café. He has authored four highly successful cookbooks and hosted two seasons of the Emmy Award-Winning PBS TV series New Tastes from Texas.

Pyles was the first person in the Southwest to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef and has been nominated by the Beard Foundation for Outstanding Chef in America an additional 12 times. He was the first Texan inducted into Who’s Who of Food and Wine in America, and has cooked for dignitaries and celebrities worldwide, including five American presidents, 6 first ladies and HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

Chef Pyles was a cuisine consultant for American Airlines for 22 years and has consulted for the Dallas Museum of Art and a host of hotels, such as Hotel Zaza, The Gaylord Texan, The Omni, Hotel Eilan and Delta Marriott. In addition, Pyles has consulted on the food and beverage programs for Corporate Campuses including Verizon Wireless in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and Deloitte University in Grapevine, Texas. Pyles has licensed his name and oversees food and beverage at 3 airport operations in Dallas.

A tireless philanthropist, Pyles is a founding board member of Share Our Strength, an international hunger relief organization and is recipient of the organization’s Humanitarian of the Year award. He has been on various boards of organizations such as Goodwill Industries and The Art Institutes, and is a life board member of the North Texas Food Bank. In 1990, he founded The Hunger Link, Dallas’ perishable food program that acts as a conduit between hotels and restaurants and food pantries. Chef Pyles has awarded $375,000 in culinary scholarships in his name over the past 12 years.

HONORARY CHEF CHAIR: Chef Janice Provost

Janice Provost is the Executive Chef and Proprietor of Parigi, a 38 year old restaurant in Dallas, Texas. Her path to cooking professionally began in 1998 after she left a successful career in outside sales to attend El Centro Community College, Food and Hospitality Institute. She began her first kitchen job at Parigi that same year, and three years later, she bought the neighborhood bistro.

Born in Houston, Janice was raised in a family that placed an importance on farming, and agriculture. She grew up with chickens, geese, ducks, bees, and an appreciation for growing crops. That background has influenced her philosophy as a chef, and she became a pioneer in the local food movement.  Janice has been a supporter of Texas Farmers and Ranchers since becoming a chef.

A self-proclaimed Francophile, Janice enjoys traveling to France whenever possible. She and her husband love to shop the local markets, and enjoy cooking in “their apartment” in Paris. They also enjoy the multicultural cuisine for which Paris is known, and many of these dishes find their way back to the menu at Parigi.

Dedicated to the education of future generations interested in the Culinary Arts, Janice created The Parigi Scholarship Endowment Fund, which provides scholarships to students within the Dallas College Food and Hospitality Institute.  Janice received the prestigious Bits and Bites Award from the Institute for her dedication. Janice is also the co-founder of Café Momentum, a restaurant which teaches disadvantaged youth the skills needed for a profession in the hospitality industry.

As a past president of the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association, and member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, Janice has been a part of raising over $1,000.000 in scholarships for students of the Culinary Arts. In 2017, Janice was named “Restaurateur of the Year” by the Texas Restaurant Association.

Janice has had the honor of being invited to cook twice at the James Beard House in New York City.  On both occasions, she took a chef team consisting of her mentors, and some of the young men and women she mentors at Parigi. 

During the Covid Crisis of 2020, Janice received a grant from the James Beard Foundation to help with recovery and maintain her business. In that same year, Parigi was awarded the Tastemaker Award of “Best Neighborhood Restaurant” by Culture Map.  Parigi consistently is named as one of the “Top 100 Restaurants” by D Magazine, and also received a “Best Patio” Mention in 2021 by D Magazine, and also from Texas Monthly in 2022. Additionally, Dallas Voice has named Parigi “Best Dining Experience” for multiple years.

Building a sustainable future through responsibly sourced food, education, mentorship, and community are what Janice Provost is hoping to achieve, one plate at a time.

PARTICIPATING CHEFS

Matt Balke, Encina

Joseph Bangura and Ryan Dean, Alice

Junior Borges, Meridian Restaurant

Justin Box, Private Chef

Katherine Clapner, Dude, Sweet Chocolate

Ross Demers, Cry Wolf

Eric Dreyer, Monarch

Omar Flores, Muchacho

Palmer Fortune, Palmer's Hot Chicken

Miriam Jimenez, Miriam Cocina Latina

Mike McCoy, Chef to the Shelters

Jose Meza, Tulum

Aaron Nelson, Beckley 1115

Joel Orsini, Profound Foods

Janice Provost, Parigi

Samantha Rush, Rush Patisserie

Abraham Salum, Salum Restaurant

Manny Vera, Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab

Paul Wackym, Wackym's Kitchen

Michael Wyatt, Full City Rooster Roasting Studio

ABOUT DALLAS 24 HOUR CLUB

Dallas 24 Hour Club provides transitional living, support services and essential life skills for homeless alcoholics and addicts, so they can embrace long-term sobriety and become contributing self-supporting members of the community. In 2021, Tillman House opened to provide an affordable sober living community with support to encourage long-term sobriety for Graduates of Dallas 24 Hour Club.