Austin Food + Wine Festival announces the chefs restaurants, wine & spirits and musical line-up for the eighth annual festival, April 26-28, 2019.
The eighth annual festival will feature more than 100 chefs, restaurants and wine & spirits experts over three days at Auditorium Shores and Fair Market, including the return of Friday night’s Grillin’ and Chillin’ hands-on, interactive dinner party hosted by chef/festival partner Tim Love; the star-studded Rock Your Taco competition on Saturday night; Sunday Gospel Brunch; engaging cooking demonstrations featuring Monogram Appliances; pitmasters and chefs cooking over interactive Fire Pits as well as an expanded live fire experience from Contigo Catering & Friends; tastes from local chefs and restaurants; dynamic wine, beer & cocktail tastings; live music; book signings; and more.
On Thursday, April 25, the pre-Festival Feast Under the Stars, an intimate outdoor dinner celebration, will once again be hosted at Austin’s Auditorium Shores. This five-course, family-style meal with wine pairings from Jackson Family Wines will be held on Festival grounds before the weekend kicks off with a collaborative menu from chefs Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie); Kristen Kish (Arlo Grey); Stephanie McClenny (Confituras Little Kitchen); Grae Nonas (Carpenters Hall); and Nicholas Yanes (Juniper). Feast Under the Stars tickets are $250/per person (inclusive of wine pairings and parking) and must be purchased separately from any Festival tickets at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets.
The Festival officially starts on Friday, April 26, with the return of Grillin’ and Chillin’, Tim Love’s 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 have their own grill to share with a partner as Love guides them through the menu, all while imparting tips for how to become a grilling expert. Grillin’ and Chillin’ 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.
On Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, the Festival grounds will come alive with cooking demonstrations, book signings and an interactive area where chefs will cook over live Fire Pits and offer tastes to attendees throughout the weekend. The Fire Pits will provide interactive experiences cooking with live fire from local and national pitmasters and chefs, including Sonya Coté (Eden East, Hillside Farmacy); Lance Kirkpatrick (Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew); Evan LeRoy (LeRoy and Lewis) and Wayne Mueller (Louie Mueller Barbecue). New this year, Contigo Catering and Friends will offer an expanded fire pit experience helmed by Andrew Wiseheart (Contigo) with more special guests to be announced.
The festival will showcase a dynamic roster of local chefs and restaurants in the Grand Taste. Enjoy signature dishes from participants including: Jeff Balfour (Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery); John Bates & Brandon Martinez (Noble Sandwich Co.); Stephen Bonin (Geraldine’s); Daniel Brooks (Licha’s Cantina); Jeff Brown (Old Thousand); Thomas Calhoun (Aviary Wine & Kitchen); Jo Chan (Eberly); Ji Peng Chen (Wu Chow); James Cole (Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile); Austin Ewald (Grizzelda’s); Alexandra Gates (Cochineal Marfa); Taylor Hall (Apis); Sarah Heard & Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic); Ethan Holmes (Mattie’s); Clinton Kendall (East Side King); Lance Kirkpatrick; Geronimo Lopez (Botika); Jason McVearry & Trisha Fortuna (Poke Poke); Brian Moses (Olive & June); Ashley Neave (Forthright); Josh Neises (Lonesome Dove Western Bistro); Steve Nelson (Wild Kitchen + Bar); David Norman (Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden); Daniel Olivella (Barlata Tapas Bar); Ling Qi Wu (Lin Asian Bar + Dim Sum); Sterling Ridings (Guild); Maribel Rivero (Yuyo); James Robert (Fixe); Ryan Samson (Vespaio); Charles Schlienger (Sway); Eric Silverstein (The Peached Tortilla); Anthony Sobotik (Lick Honest Ice Creams); Lakana Sopajan-Trubiana (DEE DEE ATX); Carmen Valera (Tamale House East); Kevin Williamson (Ranch 616); with more chefs and restaurants to be announced.
Rock Your Taco, Saturday evening’s signature tasting event at Fair Market, will bring out the competitive side of all participants, with a live musical performance by Jai Malano, an Austin-based singer/songwriter. Chefs will square off against one another to create the ultimate taco, with winners chosen by an esteemed panel of judges. Rock Your Taco competitors include: Tatsu Aikawa & Takuya Matsumoto (Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya); Tyson Cole (Hai Hospitality); Andrew Curren (ELM Restaurant Group); Jason Dady (Jason Dady Restaurant Group); Tiffani Faison (Big Heart Hospitality); Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde); Antonia Lofaso (DAMA, Scopa Italian Roots, Black Market Liquor Bar); Tim Love; FermÃn Núñez (Suerte); Aarón Sánchez (Johnny Sánchez); Chris Shepherd & Nick Wong (UB Preserv); Nancy Silverton (Mozza Restaurant Group); Max Snyder (Pitchfork Pretty); Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto, Jams, Brezza Cucina, Adele’s); and Andrew Zimmern (TV Personality, Lucky Cricket).
A star-studded collection of sommeliers, wine, beer & spirits experts help round out the Austin Food + Wine Festival line-up, including Devon Broglie (Master Sommelier, associate global beverage buyer, Whole Foods); Craig Collins (Master Sommelier, Italian portfolio sales manager, Vintus); and more to be announced.
