![\"La](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/74FD083B-41E7-46AD-94F3-58EF30B854DA-1.png\")
Jake Zalac recently joined La Cha\u00eene to learn more about wine and fine food. (Courtesy of La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs)<\/p>\nJake Zalac\u2019s first Fort Worth La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs, the world\u2019s oldest international gastronomic society, experience had a memorable Iberian theme. Hugo Del Pozzo, co-founder of award-winning PINEA Wines, introduced members to Spanish wines as Magdalena\u2019s team tended to a massive pan of paella nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told to bring a Spanish red and white wine and thought this would be a casual sit-down event,\u201d Zalac tells PaperCity. \u201cWines that I had only heard of were scattered throughout the room. Everyone was very amenable, welcoming, and curious. They just wanted to share what they had bought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake Zalac recently joined La Cha\u00eene to learn more about wine and fine food. (Courtesy of La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs)<\/p>\n
A shared appreciation for fine food and wine has united members of La Cha\u00eene since its origins as a guild of goose roasters in France in 1248. The original guild was dissolved in 1793 during the French Revolution and revived in 1950. The international society celebrating fine dining, wine, and culinary traditions established its Fort Worth chapter in 1975, thanks to restaurateur Willis \u201cMac\u201d McIntosh.<\/p>\n
Conrad C. Heede, Fort Worth\u2019s La Cha\u00eene president, tells us the local chapter<\/a> brings together food and wine enthusiasts for distinctive dining experiences, thoughtfully paired wines, and opportunities to connect with members around the world. Participants need not be culinary experts, he says, but should share a curiosity about food, wine, and the pleasures of the table.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to turn a good meal into a memorable experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The Fort Worth chapter of La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs attracts members from varied backgrounds, including wine collectors, novice enthusiasts, chefs, and even winemakers. Del Pozzo tells us he was drawn to La Cha\u00eene by its members\u2019 shared appreciation for great food and wine. His winery, PINEA Wines<\/a>, is based in northern Spain and has earned numerous international accolades, including a 2023 ranking by Wine Spectator<\/a> that placed its 2018 vintage among Spain\u2019s top four wines.<\/p>\n \t SHOP<\/p>\n Grove Hill <\/p>\n Eighteen Forty Two <\/p>\n MacKenzie-Childs <\/p>\n Verdadero Tequila<\/p>\n Pecos Jane <\/p>\n Zilker Belts<\/p>\n Zilker Brewing<\/p>\n Hutson Clothing Co.<\/p>\n Zadok Jewelers<\/p>\n \u201cThe more you learn, the more you realize how little you know about the wine industry,\u201d he says. \u201cYou could study for the rest of your life and still not know it all. But at the same time, it\u2019s one of those things where the learning process can be so incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n After attending several events and sampling rare vintages and exceptional wines that would easily fetch thousands of dollars on the market, Zalac was ready to join. At a black-tie induction ceremony at the Fort Worth Club<\/a> last December, he and other new members received formal ribbons and commemorative knives engraved with La Cha\u00eene\u2019s logo.<\/p>\n Heede, who has been a La Cha\u00eene member for roughly 20 years and has led the Fort Worth chapter since 2023, has witnessed significant growth during his presidency. Membership has climbed over the years, earning the chapter two national recognitions for its growth. He hopes to attract more local chefs, sommeliers, and restaurateurs.<\/p>\n Supporting Fort Worth\u2019s Next Generation of Chefs<\/p>\n Beyond its social and educational events, Heede is especially proud of how his chapter \u2014 bailliage in French \u2014 supports Fort Worth\u2019s next generation of chefs. In March 2025, the Fort Worth chapter hosted the Southwest regional competition at Tarrant County College, where young chefs prepared dishes in the school\u2019s new culinary arts facilities under the watchful eyes of professional chefs.<\/p>\n La Cha\u00eene also sponsors a similar competition for aspiring sommeliers. On November 13, the Fort Worth chapter will host a French-themed dinner at Tarrant County College<\/a>, where culinary students will prepare a meal paired with French wines supplied by La Cha\u00eene members. A wine auction will raise money for culinary student scholarships.<\/p>\n As Fort Worth\u2019s chapter continues to grow, so do local options for the types of elevated dining experiences Del Pozzo enjoys when visiting leading culinary cities across the globe. Having called Fort Worth home for 26 years, the winemaker has witnessed the city\u2019s culinary evolution firsthand. He points to newer restaurants such as Almac\u00e9n El Gallo<\/a> and The Chumley House<\/a> as examples of its increasingly sophisticated dining scene.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have come so far in the last 25 years,\u201d he says. \u201cWe now have great representations of different cuisines. I love the direction that the city is moving in.\u201d<\/p>\n For Zalac, who studies wine varieties at home, his growing knowledge adds another dimension to his travels. During a visit to Burgundy, France, he stayed at a vineyard in the village of Pommard. Two years later, a fellow La Cha\u00eene member brought a bottle from that same vineyard to an event in Fort Worth, making the experience of tasting the wine all the more meaningful.<\/p>\n Heede\u2019s goal for the guild is as simple as it is ambitious \u2014 to make every event \u201cirresistible,\u201d so members never want to miss a gathering. La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs, the centuries-old French guild dedicated to conviviality, fine food, and wine, has found an enthusiastic adopted home in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jake Zalac\u2019s first Fort Worth La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs, the world\u2019s oldest international gastronomic society, experience had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-472692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"La](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/260324-4890-1600x1600.jpg\")
A recent event at Bocca Osteria Romana Fort Worth drew dozens of La Cha\u00eene members. (Courtesy of La Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs)
\nA Fort Worth Culinary Tradition 50 Years in the Making<\/p>\n![\"Pinea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pinea-Dominio-de-Pinea-smaller-1600x900.jpg\")
Hugo Del Pozzo is a member La Cha\u00eene and the co-founder of award-winning PINEA Wines. (Photo courtesy of PINEA Wines)<\/p>\n