Chef Phil's Phabulous, Phunky, & Phuturistic Phish Phry-By

Catfish • Community • Cava

Some gatherings are parties.
Some are milestones.

This one is both.

The Phish Phry-By marks a birthday, a recovery, and a reset after a life-altering heart attack and open-heart surgery. It’s a chance to celebrate being here, still standing, still cooking, still spinning records, and still surrounded by community.

It’s also something deeper.

After more than a year of fighting to secure and stabilize the family home, this evening becomes a rededication of the house itself. Long before this moment, the space lived as a place of creativity and gathering. My mother and grandmother operated a licensed beauty salon here, and his mother maintained an art gallery and personal studio inside the same home—a living example of Black entrepreneurship, culture, and community happening under one roof.

The Phry-By honors that lineage.

For one day the house returns to its roots:
people coming together around food, music, conversation, and art.

At the center of the evening is damn good fish—crispy, soulful, and made to be shared. Many ticket tiers are designed as Plate Sponsorships, allowing guests to help feed the room and ensure that more people can pull up a chair at the table.

We’ll also pause for a communal toast we’re calling Cava & Catfish—a sparkling moment where the room raises a glass together to life, resilience, and the power of gathering. My man, Chuck Jackson Jr. better known as Papa Vino! will lead the toast.

Music will feature a special Crate Wars!!! activation, bringing the spirit of the long-running DJ and music community into the celebration with deep cuts, soulful selections, and vinyl energy.

An art element will also be incorporated into the evening, continuing the home’s legacy as a place where creativity lives on the walls as well as on the plate. More details on that soon.

Guests will find opportunities to participate through several ticket tiers, including plate sponsorships, Cava & Catfish toast tickets, and community supporter levels.

Limited event merchandise, spice blends, and sauces will also be available as add-ons for those who want to take a little flavor home. I have a special announcement that will bring this all together! It's a surprise.

This gathering is part fish fry, part listening session, part homecoming.

But more than anything, it’s a reminder of something simple and powerful:

When the music is good, the food is hot, and the doors are open…
community shows up.

Come celebrate life.
Come honor the legacy of the house.
Come help us feed the table.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Phil Jones