Tickets to the Austin Food + Wine Festival 2020 are now on sale. This years festival will feature more than 100 chefs, restaurants and wine & spirits experts over three days of festivities at Auditorium Shores, downtown. In the festival’s 8th year, the event is set to become the biggest and best year offering a stellar line-up of chefs, food and wine tastings, and live demonstrations offered by celebrity artisans.
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- Photo by Sydney Gawlik
Jump Ahead To
Feast Under The Stars
The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 23, Feast Under the Stars, an intimate, outdoor dinner celebration, will once again be hosted at Austin’s Auditorium Shores. This event features an extravagant a family-style sustainable dinner will be in collaboration with chef Kevin Fink and the Zero Foodprint initiative in support of Austin’s Zero Waste program, which aims to reduce 90% of the trash sent to landfills by 2040. The dinner will feature a sustainable menu from award-winning chefs Fink (Emmer & Rye); Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine); and Trevor Moran (Locust, Nashville).
Grillin’ and Chillin’
On Friday, April 24, Grillin’ and Chillin’ with Tim Love, returns for the ultimate hands-on grilling dinner party hosted at Auditorium Shores. This event offers All-In ticket holders the opportunity to sharpen their skills as they join Love for an interactive and lively night of grilling, drinks and dinner, all underneath the Austin skyline. Grillin’ and Chillin’ attendees will share a charcoal grill with a partner and prepare their own dinner as Love guides them through the menu while offering tips for how to become a grilling expert. The event is exclusively included with the All-In ticket and will be the only time that the hands-on grilling demo will be offered throughout the weekend.
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- Honey butter fried chicken bites from @SundayDinnerClub in Chicago.
Grand Tasting
On Saturday and Sunday, April 25th – 26th, the Festival grounds will transform with cooking demonstrations, book signings and interactive tastings where chefs will offer tastings to attendees throughout the weekend.
Fire Pits
The Fire Pits will showcase live fire cooking expertise from Simon Stallard (The Hidden Hut; Cornwall, UK); John Bates (InterStellar BBQ); Sonya Coté (Eden East, Hillside Farmacy); and many more chefs from Austin and around the world.
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- Richard Blais
Rock Your Taco
Saturday night’s signature event, Rock Your Taco, brings out the competitive side of all chef participants as they square off against one another to create the ultimate taco, for a chance to win the People’s Choice award the best taco. The event takes place at Fair Market and includes 18 chef competitors from Austin and around the United States.
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- Andrew Zimern
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- Nixta
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- Chef Jason Dady
Chef Participants
A star-studded roster of chef participants include festival host Tim Love and a star-studded group of culinary artisans including Kevin Fink, Bryce Gilmore, and Trevor Moran. The dynamic roster of chefs and restaurants throughout the weekend will feature tasting samples and signature dishes from some of Austin’s most beloved personalities and destinations, including: Aaron Anselmi (Olive & June); Tano Avila (Grizzelda’s); Jeff Balfour (Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery); Daniel Brooks (Licha’s Cantina); Jeff Brown (Old Thousand); Pedro Carvalho (Hopfields); Jo Chan (Eberly); Ji Peng Chen (Wu Chow); Matthew Davis(Forthright); Jacob Euler (Le Vacher); Reed Faitak (Austin Daily Press); Brandon Fuller (Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile); Taylor Hall (Apis); Sarah Heard & Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic); Victor Ibarra (Andiamo); C.J. Jacobson (Aba); Clinton Kendall (East Side King); Lance Kirkpatrick (Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew); Geronimo Lopez (Botika); Jason McVearry & Trisha Fortuna (Poke Poke); Margarita & Nestor Mendez (Pueblo Viejo); Josh Neises (Lonesome Dove Western Bistro); David Norman (Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden); Daniel Olivella (Barlata Tapas Bar); Ling Qi Wu (Lin Asian Bar + Dim Sum); Rich Reimbolt (Better Half Coffee & Cocktails); Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria); Christopher Rios (The Vegan Nom); James Robert (Fixe); Ryan Samson (Vespaio); Christopher Schaefer (Geraldine’s); Eric Silverstein (The Peached Tortilla); Carmen Valera (Tamale House East); Kevin Williamson (Ranch 616).
Rock Your Taco chef participants include Tatsu Aikawa (DipDipDip Tatsu-Ya); Mashama Bailey & Johno Morisano (The Grey; Savannah, GA); Anne Burrell (TV Personality, Chef; New York, NY); Tyson Cole (Hai Hospitality); Scott Conant (Mora Italian; Phoenix, AZ); Andrew Curren (ELM Restaurant Group); Jason Dady (Chispas); Diego Galicia & Rico Torres (Mixtli; San Antonio); Sarah Heard & Nathan Lemley; JJ Johnson (Field Trip; Harlem, NY); Tim Love; Ryan Pera (Agricole Hospitality; Houston, TX); Aarón Sánchez (Johnny Sánchez; New Orleans, LA); Charles Schlienger (Sway); Philip Speer (Comedor); and 2019 reigning Rock Your Taco champion, Andrew Zimmern (TV Personality, Chef; Minneapolis, MN).
An outstanding roster of sommeliers, wine, beer & spirits experts will help round out the festival line-up, including Master Sommelier Devon Broglie (global beverage buyer, Whole Foods) and Master Sommelier Craig Collins (Italian portfolio sales manager, Vintus).
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets. All attendees must be 21 years of age or Older.
All-In ($625/per person)
The All-In ticket includes Saturday and Sunday Festival access; interactive cooking demos & book signings; hands-on beer, wine and cocktail tasting sessions; wood-fired culinary creations from the Fire Pits; tastes from Austin’s best chefs & restaurants; Friday night’s Grillin’ and Chillin’ with Tim Love; Saturday night’s signature Rock Your Taco competition; and more.
Weekender ($250/per person)
The Weekender ticket includes Saturday and Sunday Festival access; interactive cooking demos & book signings; hands-on beer, wine and cocktail tasting sessions; wood-fired culinary creations from the Fire Pits; tastes from Austin’s best chefs & restaurants; and more.
Feast Under the Stars ($250/per person)
Feast Under the Stars tickets provide access to the intimate outdoor pre-festival dinner celebration at Auditorium Shores. The family-style sustainable dinner, hosted in collaboration with chef Kevin Fink and the Zero Foodprint initiative in support of Austin’s Zero Waste initiative, includes wine pairings and parking.