Austin Food + Wine Festival Announces 2017 Talent
By Brandon Watson, January 19, 2017, 12:01am, On the Range
Here’s our suggestion. Stock up on extra-absorbent paper towels and cue up the Ann Peebles. Or deeply concentrate on a statue of Bacchus or the Green Man or Sucellus (or Padma Lakshmi, whatever) while reciting a spell. We all need to work together to make sure the rain doesn’t wash out the Austin Food + Wine Festival again.
The annual feast of feast just announced the 2017 lineup, bringing back much of the talent from last year’s canceled event and a few new names. The list is always a fascinating look into the cool kids of Austin and Texas cuisine. There are a still few surprise guests left to be announced, but get that credit card out now. Tickets for the event, held Thursday, April 28-Sunday, April 30, go on sale at 10am today.
This year’s Feast Under the Stars preview dinner on Thursday, April 27, at Auditorium Shores will feature chefs David Bull (Second Bar + Kitchen, La Corsha Hospitality Group), Tyson Cole (Hai Hospitality), Omar Flores (Dallas’ Casa Rubia), Ford Fry (Houston’s State of the Grace), and former laV and Play Dough pastry chef Janina O’Leary. Please note: This is a separate ticket and not included with either festival pass.
The official Lone Star Nights kickoff is on Friday, April 28, at Fair Market featuring music by DJ DM and some of Texas’ finest chefs. That list includes Matt Balke (Dallas’ Bolsa), Julian Barsotti (Dallas’ Nonna), Junior Borges and Coner Sergeant (Dallas’ CBD Provisions), Thai Changthong (Thai-Kun), Luis Colon (San Antonio’s Folc), Andrew Curren (ELM Restaurant Group), Kevin Fink (Emmer & Rye), Ford Fry, Diego Galicia and Rico Torres (San Antonio’s Restaurant Mixtli), Steve McHugh (San Antonio’s Cured), Wayne Mueller (Louie Mueller Barbecue), Paul Qui (Kuneho), Ryan Shields (Bullfight), and Danny Trace (Brennan’s of Houston).
The interactive live Fire Pits will be going both weekend days at the Auditorium Shores festival grounds with three stations daily helmed by Sonya Coté (Eden East, Hillside Farmacy), Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie), Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine, Odd Duck), Kent Rathbun (Dallas’ Shinsei), Blaine Staniford (Fort Worth’s Grace, Little Red Wasp), and Andrew Wiseheart (Contigo, Contigo Catering, Chicon). And festival partner Tim Love will be again offering his popular hands-on grilling demos.
The Chef Showcase will offer signature bites from Joe Anguiano (VOX Table), Jeff Balfour (San Antonio’s Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery), John Bates and Brandon Martinez (Noble Sandwich Co.), Stephen Bonin (Geraldine’s), John Brand (San Antonio’s Supper at Hotel Emma), Taylor Chambers (Justine’s Brasserie), Kazu Fukumoto (Fukumoto: Sushi and Yakitori Izakaya), Albert Gonzalez (Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile), Daniela Herrera (Counter 3. FIVE. VII), James Holmes (Lucy’s Fried Chicken), Zach Hunter (The Brewer’s Table), Clinton Kendall (East Side King), Lance Kirkpatrick (Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew), Nathan Lemley (parkside), Mia Li (Kuneho), Geronimo Lopez (San Antonio’s Botika), Rick Lopez (La Condesa), Harold Marmulstein (Salty Sow), Brian Moses (Olive & June), Josh Neises (Lonesome Dove), David Norman (Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden), Michael Paley (Central Standard), Ji Peng Chen (Wu Chow), James Robert (Fixe), Amanda Rockman (South Congress Hotel), Eric Silverstein (The Peached Tortilla), Marco Silvestrini (Dolce Neve), Anthony Sobotik (Lick Honest Ice Cream), Eddie Solis (Cooper’s Old Time Pit BBQ), Philip Speer (Bonhomie), George Thomas (Unit-D Pizzeria), Jim Tripi (Eberly), Carmen Valera (Tamale House East), Jacob Weaver (Juliet Ristorante), Martin Wilda (Sway), Kevin Williamson (Ranch 616), Austin Ewald (Grizzelda's), Tyson Cole (Uchiko), and Abby Yates (NO VA).
Saturday evening’s Rock Your Taco at Fair Market brings in Hugh Acheson (Empire State South, Five & Ten, The Florence, The National, Spiller Park Coffee), Jimmy Bannos (Heaven on Seven), Jimmy Bannos, Jr. (The Purple Pig), Matt Bolus (The 404 Kitchen), Tyson Cole, Jason Dady (Jason Dady Restaurants), Jodi Elliott (Bribery Bakery), Amanda Freitag (Chopped), Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec, Petit Trois, Trois Familia, LudoBird), Tim Love, Aarón Sánchez (Johnny Sánchez Restaurants), Alon Shaya (Shaya, Domenica, Pizza Domenica), Christina Tosi (Momofuku Milk Bar), Ming Tsai (Blue Dragon, Blue Ginger), and Jonathan Waxman (Adele’s, Bajo Sexto Taco, Barbuto, Brezza Cucina, Jams, Waxman’s San Francisco). The all-stars will be judged by a panel including Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot Bistro) and Food & Wine's Nilou Motamed.
Putting the final cherry on top of the festivities are master sommeliers Devon Broglie (Whole Foods Market) and Craig Collins (ELM Restaurant Group), Food & Wine’s executive wine editor Ray Isle, and author Mark Oldman.
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