Today we’d like to introduce you to Iris Midler McCallister.
Iris, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started on a farm in 2010. We had a long table dinner with about 125 people. There were five chefs and five farmers working together for the purpose of engaging and doing future business with each other. It was a sold out event and we were asked by a media writer to put on another dinner in Fort Worth three months later. It was never intended to be a repeated event, but it grew out of interest. We are now the fastest growing food & wine festival in Dallas!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Adapting to change can be an obstacle, but it always works out perfectly
We’d love to hear more about your business.
What sets us apart from most Food & Wine Festivals is that we bring out farmers to rub elbows with popular chefs and restaurants to give farmers the opportunity to get more business. We are a marketing event for many farmers. We don’t charge farmers to be there and we provide stipends for chefs to work with the local farmers. We provide the most stipends in Dallas for food & wine festivals. I am proud that we can get the word out about awesome farms near Dallas! In 2017, a farm that worked with only 7 restaurants participated in CFF and now works with 27 restaurants.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was extremely outgoing. I always loved to put on shows, to dance and to throw parties. I was very social! I also volunteered a lot as a child and tried my best to put others first. The typical chameleon who gets along with all different crowds.
Pricing:
- Street Food Night Market – General Admission $75
- Street Food Night Market – VIP $95
- Main Event – General Admission $99
- Main Event – VIP $150
Contact Info:
- Website: chefsforfarmers.com
- Phone: 214-842-7751
- Email: im@chefsforfarmers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefsforfarmers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChefsForFarmers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chefsforfarmers?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
