Flavor! Napa Valley
The fourth Flavor! Napa Valley is set for November 19 through 23, 2014, in (where else?) Napa Valley, California.
Featuring Napa Valley wineries, restaurants and chefs, the festival also showcases culinary talent from across the United States, including graduates of The Culinary Institute of America, the festival’s beneficiary.
Festivities will include events such as celebrity chef demonstrations and intimate in-the-field workshops with purveyors as part of a series entitled Terroir to Table: Farm, Cellar, & Kitchen Experience. The biggest party of the long weekend, The Appellation Trail, will feature nearly 25 restaurants and 100 wineries.
Here’s what makes it different from other food and wine festivals:
· All participating chefs must either be graduates of the CIA or have a restaurant in the Napa Valley.
· Area vintners will host wine-paired dinners at their wineries and top winemakers will lead wine tastings at the CIA Greystone campus in St. Helena, California.
New events this year:
· Picking and Preserving with Long Meadow Ranch: Explore preservation with a focus on salt curing, drying, pickling and canning to transform raw ingredients into delicacies. Post-workshop, sit down to a three-course wine-paired lunch on a working farm.
· From Terroir To Bar: When most people think of Napa Valley they obviously think wine … but there’s a big cocktail culture here too. Tour Lucy Restaurant’s on-site organic culinary garden at Bardessono with Chef Victor Scargle to forge herbs and veggies. The Napa Valley Distillery will then lead a hands on cocktail class using the forged goods.
· The Perfect Napa Valley Dinner Party: Learn how to throw a Michelin starred Napa Valley dinner party at Auberge du Soleil with Chef Robert Curry. From table setting and flatware to seasonal ingredients and other secrets of Michelin kitchens, chef will share the knowledge and tools to master the ultimate Napa Valley-style dinner party.
Tickets for all the events are available online.