The best holiday in Oklahoma is nearly here! Thirst Day and its associated event Thirst for a Cause is Wednesday August 21 at the Petroleum Club Event Center (4040 N. Lincoln). The annual wine holiday, also known as Xmas for Winos, brings 40 wineries and distilleries together in one room with 10 local restaurants and hospitality groups for a great cause. More than 30 of the producers and suppliers in the building will be wine related.

Founded in 2009, the event emerged from Thirst Wine Merchants founder Alex Kroblin’s desire to help hospitality workers with medical expenses and expenses related to lost work from health issues. 

“We’ve always wanted to add mental health to the solutions we support,” Kroblin said, “but we couldn’t ever find a partner statewide. This year we’re partnering with Houston-based Southern Smoke Foundation, and we’ll be able to add mental health support for industry professionals all over Oklahoma.” 

The foundation was created by James Beard Award winning Chef Chris Shepherd, a Nebraska native who grew up in Tulsa, and is best known for his Houston restaurant and hospitality group Underbelly that he left in 2022. Now he and Lindsey Brown, his wife and Southern Smoke co-founder, focus on multiple projects while guiding a foundation that as of 2023 had donated nearly $11 million to hospitality employees via its Emergency Fund. The foundation most recently helped victims of the Sulphur, Oklahoma, tornado in April.

“One of our suppliers in Texas connected us to Chris,” Kroblin said. “He said he had money to help in Sulphur, and that led to conversations about how we could partner via Thirst for a Cause. It expands our reach in Oklahoma – Southern Smoke is in all 50 states – and allows us to add mental health. We’re excited that they’ll be coming to Thirst for a Cause this year to check out what we’re doing and offer their insight and experience to make our event even better.” 

For the first time, James Beard Award finalist Chef Jeff Chanchaleune will have food from his Plaza District concept Ma Der Lao Kitchen at Thirst for a Cause. He’s partnered with Southern Smoke in the past, and he too is happy about the potential new partnership. 

“Chris came into Ma Der after we made the Bon Appetit Best New Restaurants list,” Chanchaleune said. “We met again at the James Beard Foundation event in 2023, and he invited me to come check out the Southern Smoke Festival last year. I’ll be one of 70 chefs cooking at the event in Houston this year, and I’m looking forward to it.” 

Via a line on his receipts, Chanchaleune takes donations for Southern Smoke because he’s a supporter of mental health causes. He’s also open about his own mental health history. “I take medication for mental health issues, and I know everyone doesn’t talk about it openly, so we’re happy to help an organization that takes care of restaurant people who struggle with these issues.”

Kroblin started Thirst Day to help with a very specific medical need for a restaurant worker, but it quickly grew to a point where it could help multiple industry employees with medical costs. Local restaurants and hospitality groups were quick to help out, and the day became a way to showcase Thirst Wine Merchants’ impressive portfolio of wines. Kroblin is also quick to note that the winery owners and winemakers got on board early, donating their time and product for the event. Today, it’s that rare opportunity to indulge your palate while contributing to a very good cause. The proceeds, not just a percentage, go to the cause. 

This year, for the first time, James Beard Award nominee Chef Lisa Becklund and Linda Ford (FARMBAR, Living Kitchen, Il Seme) will bring their Depew/Tulsa concepts’ food to Thirst for a Cause. And along with Chef Jeff Chanchaleune’s Ma Der Lao Kitchen, Brandi and Jeremiah Esterline’s Tiny Bubbles and Chef Kevin Lee’s Birdies will be first timers. They’ll join veterans like The Hamilton, Holloway Restaurant Group, and 84 Hospitality. 

First timers on the wine side include Day Wines, from rockstar Oregon winemaker Brianne Day, Laurent Perrier Champagne, and Benoit Touquette’s Teeter-Totter and Fait-Main wines, some of the most sought after bottles in the country right now. Popular regulars like 32 Winds, Elk Cove, Darms Lane, and Raptor Ridge will be there, as will a personal favorite and the standout last year, Baire Wines. Locally owned Wanderfolk Spirits and Scratch Bottled Old Fashioned will join Barrell Craft Spirits, Blue Note Whiskey, and the must-try Middle West Spirits.

You can find the entire list offood and drink as well as tickets for the event on the Thirst for a Cause website, and it’s a terrible idea to wait until the day of the event to try to purchase them.