What happens when a James Beard Award-winning Houston chef swaps the kitchen for the microphone? A lot of good conversation, a few laughs and, naturally, something delicious to eat.

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts is bringing back Breaking Bread, its live conversation series with Houston chef, entrepreneur and television personality Chris Shepherd, for a second season.

Hosted in the Hobby Center’s intimate Founders Club, the three-event series brings Shepherd together with three accomplished guests from the worlds of food, dance and culture: Gail Simmons, Julie Kent and Toni Tipton-Martin.

The series is designed to feel less like a traditional interview and more like an evening around the table with interesting people. Shepherd will explore the guests’ careers, creative journeys, challenges, successes and the experiences that shaped them, while an exclusive menu created by Shepherd gives audiences another reason to come hungry.

Three Nights, Three Very Different Conversations

The season opens Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., with Gail Simmons, best known as a judge and executive producer of Bravo's Top Chef. Simmons will join Shepherd to discuss her career, food culture, mentorship and her new book, Guesting, scheduled for publication Nov. 3.

Fans purchasing tickets in advance will also have an opportunity to purchase signed copies of Guesting.

On Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027, at 7:30 p.m., Shepherd welcomes Julie Kent, artistic director of Houston Ballet and a former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer. Kent spent three decades with American Ballet Theatre before taking the helm of Houston Ballet.

Their conversation will explore the pursuit of excellence, creativity, discipline, collaboration and the connections between the worlds of ballet and hospitality.

The season concludes Saturday, Feb. 20, 2027, at 7:30 p.m., with Toni Tipton-Martin, a three-time James Beard Award winner and recipient of the James Beard Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tipton-Martin is known for documenting and preserving the contributions of African American cooks to American culinary history. Her conversation with Shepherd will explore food as history, storytelling and cultural identity.

Come for the Conversation, Stay for the Food

The series takes its name from a tradition associated with Shepherd's former restaurants, where whole loaves of bread were placed on tables for guests to tear and share. The idea was simple: bring people together around food and conversation.

That spirit continues at the Hobby Center, where guests can enjoy Shepherd's exclusive Founders Club menu. Offerings include birria taquitos with warm spicy broth and jalapeño cabbage slaw, caviar with crème fraîche and sour cream and onion Pringles, and crackling queso with crispy chicharron and Hatch chile queso.

Doors open at 6 p.m., giving guests time to socialize before each 7:30 p.m. conversation.

Individual tickets start at $35, while a three-show package is available for $89.25. Guests can purchase tables for four, while smaller parties may be seated with other guests.

Tickets are available through The Hobby Center.

For Houstonians who enjoy food, culture and the stories behind the people shaping both, Breaking Bread offers a chance to pull up a chair, grab a bite and hear what happens when some of the city's and country's most interesting creatives sit down together.