Overview SHEF Food + Wine is chef Tiffany Derry's weekend of chefs, winemakers and distillers at EpicCentral in Grand Prairie, Texas, built to put women chefs, Black chefs and emerging cooks at the center of the tasting tables; Derry started it because, as she tells it, there were plenty of food festivals but none made for her. She runs it with Tom Foley through T2D Concepts, their group behind Roots Southern Table, Roots Chicken Shak and Radici Wood Fired Grill, and the festival first ran in 2024. The festival supports Roots Impact, a 501(c)(3) that pays for scholarships and mentorship for culinary students. On site The published 2026 program put a Sno Social block party led by Carla Hall on the Friday, with a welcome party, a restaurant takeover by Derry and friends, a fireside chat with Kristen Kish and a late night at The Juke Joint at The Landing. Its Saturday carried pickleball with the chefs, wine tastings and talks, industry panels, live music, a VIP experience and the Grand Tasting. EpicCentral is a 172-acre entertainment district with a lake, a sloped lawn that seats thousands, the Epic Theater and a culinary kitchen for demos. Roots Impact hands its scholarships to Dallas-area culinary students on the Grand Tasting floor. Audience The festival builds for people it calls hardcore foodies, gourmet explorers who travel and eat out often, and for affluent professionals who want the ticket to do some good. The formats put guests next to the cooks: a four-course takeover dinner, a fireside chat, a pickleball court shared with chefs. Its guests post from the tables on Instagram and TikTok as the night goes. Talent and Influencers Chefs who have cooked at SHEF include Kwame Onwuachi, Michael Voltaggio, Duff Goldman, Carla Hall, Erick Williams, Kevin Bludso, Angelo Sosa, Silvia Barban, Dawn Burrell, Tavel Bristol-Joseph, Arnold Myint and Tristen Epps-Long. In 2025 Robin McBride of McBride Sisters and Fawn Weaver of Uncle Nearest led the wine and whiskey tasting. The published 2026 Grand Tasting lineup added Nyesha Arrington, and Derry, a Top Chef alum, cooks at her own festival. Track record The 2025 edition, October 24 to 26, took the restaurant takeover to Radici for a four-course dinner and partnered with the Texas Restaurant Foundation to support RECIPE, the foundation's workforce development program. Brand presence Partnerships run from a Bronze level to a Platinum level that carries title or presenting rights on the festival or one of its events. Every level gets activation space and sampling at the events it joins, a logo at the Grand Tasting entrance and room for gifts to chefs and guests. Platinum and Gold partners fund Roots Impact scholarships, which are handed out at the Grand Tasting. SHEF also builds custom pieces: branded lounges and bars, chef collaborations and private hosting for a partner's clients.