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T his summer, much- l o v e d H o u s t o n chef Marcia Smart debuts Kitchenette F a r m C o o k i n g School near Round Top. Armed with a culinary degree and a background in food writing, Smart began hosting cooking classes out of her home when she moved from San Francisco to Houston, in part just to meet people. Her lessons and weekly meal SMART MOVE: Kitchenette Farm Cooking School BY ANNE LEE PHILLIPS. PHOTOGRAPHY HARLOW & MAY. plans quickly became a savior for overcommitted moms turned friends. She and her husband, Brig, had been looking at country property for a few years, and one turn-of-the-century farmhouse minutes from Round Top felt just right — but the timing wasn't. "I had hosted a few retreats at The Vintage Round Top, which I loved," Smart says. "I was craving my own teaching kitchen out there for not only seasonal retreats but also cooking classes." The stars aligned in the fall of 2019, when she discovered the property was for sale once again. This time around, after a lengthy pursuit of the surface rights, they made it theirs by April 2020 — just in time for the pandemic to hit. "It was the biggest bright spot for our family during COVID," Smart says. "We trimmed trees and cleared land. We had the time to be out there and dream of what we wanted it to be." Much of her inspiration came from a cooking class that she'd attended in Burgundy, Marcia Smart's Kitchenette Farm Cooking School near Round Top 12