Chris Williams

Chris Williams has made a name for himself serving up well-refined Southern food with international
infusions at his nationally-celebrated restaurant Lucille’s, opened as a tribute to his great grandmother
and culinary pioneer Lucille B. Smith. A decade in the making, the namesake restaurant has since
expanded into Lucille’s Hospitality Group — a culmination of concepts that channel the matriarch’s
historic ingenuity.

Williams' most recent endeavor — his non-profit Lucille’s 1913 —functions as the restaurant group’s
conscious community collective, providing more than 1,000,000 meals to Houstonians in need. A 2022
James Beard Award Finalist for Outstanding Restaurateur, Williams continues to make a name for himself
as a community builder within the culinary world and beyond. He is a part of Bon Appetit’s inaugural
“Heads of the Table” Awards List; Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2022 Power List; a 2022 United Nations
Global Citizen Awardee; Restaurant Hospitality’s 2021 Rising Star chef class; a Houston Area Urban
League Quentin Mease Community Service Award recipient; and has served as a culinary cultural
ambassador for the USA advancing food diplomacy in destinations like Slovenia, Croatia, and Ukraine.