Today, on July 25th, the city of Houston, Texas celebrates the second annual Chef Willie Holmes Day. In 2023, Brother Holmes, an alumnus brother of the [Sigma Nu] Mu Upsilon chapter at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA), was recognized for his contributions to the City of Houston’s unique culinary community by Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Brother Holmes describes himself, “as a Texas chef, someone who is very southern, and full of flavor and bold, but also can combine fusion into it as well, being raised here in Houston with so many different cultures around me.” He says, “Falling into that category of Texas-Fusion has become my culinary point of view.”
He attended SFA from 2009 to 2011 and went through his chapter’s candidate process in the spring of his junior year. During his time in the chapter, he served as the Community Service and Philanthropy Chairman.
Recently, Brother Holmes was gracious enough to sit down and talk to the Fraternity about his work, his career journey, and his connection to the Sigma Nu brotherhood.
Just saying that you’re a chef is a bit of a misnomer, so could you explain what an average day in your life might look like?
Chef Willie Holmes (WH): As a private chef, I have clients that I cook for on a daily basis. I have to go grocery shopping for them, go back to their homes, and prep for them and their families. I also might be booked for catering and events that I have to prepare for. On any given day, I might do TV correspondent work, appearing on local news channels to discuss trending topics in the food world, from desserts and pastries to savory dishes. I also do work on TV segments highlighting other bakers and chefs in the city, helping to promote and support them and I dedicate time to working on my nonprofit organization.
Can you talk about what has inspired you to be so involved locally?
WH: I think the reason why I give back so much is because I do not believe that I could have made it to where I am now without the people who helped me along the way. Growing up on the south side of Houston in poverty with so many challenges facing me, it was already so much of a struggle to “escape the hood.” That’s the easiest way I can say it. To escape that lifestyle and enter a new one, to go to college, it took a full village of people helping and pulling me along just to even make it to SFA. Once there, a different community of people helped me through college, with Sigma Nu being a significant part of that. They helped me get over hurdles, discover myself, and realize what I wanted to do in life. That’s why I give back now.
Reflecting on my journey from college through the various trials and tribulations I faced as an adult in the baking world, I realized there are so many other people with dreams and aspirations in this same world of mine who just needed a little bit of help. So that’s why I created my charity organization, to help those up-and-coming chefs. The nonprofit is called The Texas Bakers Guild Foundation. Its mission is to take a group of chefs who tend to go unnoticed and make them seen. We focus on private chefs, pastry chefs, caterers, and home bakers.
