The Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival announced its chef lineup and food programs, set to take place December 10-13 in locations throughout the Palm Beaches. The ninth annual festival will bring together a dozen events featuring new and returning celebrity chefs and other culinary talents, culminating with a refresh of the festival’s iconic event, the 9th Annual Grand Tasting presented by Stoli.
This year’s festival features a star-packed line-up of culinary masters and food trendsetters.
Returning chefs Robert Irvine, Marc Murphy, Christina Tosi, Johnny Iuzzini, Elizabeth Falkner, Anita Lo, Jeff Mauro, and Ken Oringer will be joined by new PBFWF additions Hugh Acheson, Gavin Kaysen, George Mendes, Dena Marino, Michael Ruhlman, Brad Kilgore, and Beau MacMillan, alongside Palm Beach County favorites Clay Conley, Tim Lipman, Sean Brasel, Tory Martindale, Lindsay Autry, and Aaron Black.
Headquartered at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach with select locations on Palm Beach Island, the festival will include a collection of intimate and lively dinners, wine and cocktail tastings, cooking demonstrations, books signing, and seminars discussing the latest culinary trends, all featuring some of the world’s most renowned chefs and industry leaders.
Festival events begin December 10, with dinners held simultaneously at Palm Beach’s most popular restaurants, Būccan and PB CATCH Seafood & Raw Bar. Over the subsequent three days, guests will take part in an official kick-off party at The Breakers Palm Beach followed by a bevy of fun tasting events at host resort, Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach: the annual Chillin’ N’ Grillin’, industry panel discussions, a Street Food competition featuring Palm Beach versus NYC chefs, and children’s cooking demonstrations.
This gourmet getaway is part of Four Seasons Hotels Food & Wine Festivals, an exclusive collection of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts working with its community partners to spotlight annual food festivals and offer one-of-a-kind experiences in which guests can indulge culinary fantasies at select destinations including Palm Beach and Hualalai.
Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival 2015 event highlights include:
December 10: Chefs Johnny Iuzzini, Mike Lata, Jonathon Sawyer, Stephen Stryjewski, and Aaron Black bring sexy to ocean sustainability in Sustain, a seafood-inspired dinner hosted at PB CATCH Seafood & Raw Bar. [$160 per person; 7 p.m.]
Expect to taste the unexpected at The First Bite with chefs Hugh Acheson, Gavin Kaysen, and George Mendes joining Clay Conley at his open-kitchen concept restaurant, Būccan. [$160 per person, 7 p.m.]
December 11: Miami flair meets Palm Beach sophistication in Miami Takeover. Chef Sean Brasel welcomes Miami chefs Daniel Serfer, Dena Marino, Brad Kilgore, and Giorgio Rapicavoli to serve up lunch specials at Meat Market Palm Beach, Brasel’s newest spin off of his South Beach flagship. [$95 per person, noon].
Get Served!, the annual chef volleyball battle at the beautiful beach at Four Seasons, rounds up teams consisting of sommeliers, chefs and other festival friends to remind them that kitchen skills don’t always determine the champions. [free; 2 p.m.]
The official kick-off soiree Chef Welcome Party presented by Cheney Brothers returns to The Breakers Resort Palm Beach in all its red carpet splendor. With the resort’s executive chef Jeff Simms at the helm, expect a unique theme for the many food stations, passed bites, delicious wines, and specialty cocktails. [$125 per person; 7 p.m.]
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Turn up the volume with Late Night Rock hosted by Jeff Mauro. The party at the Four Seasons Resort returns as Food Network’s Mauro, self-proclaimed karaoke extraordinaire, hosts fellow chefs and guests to an evening of cocktails and karaoke gone wild. [$75 per person; 11:30 p.m.]
December 12: Kids Kitchens presented by Whole Foods Market encourages children to become the next generation of top chefs. Chefs Robert Irvine and Jonathon Sawyer guide mini sous chefs in hands-on classes held at the Four Seasons Resort. [$45 includes one child and one adult; 9 and 10:30 a.m.]
Chef Talks presented by VerTerra Dinnerware offers compelling culinary insights from some of the country’s most inspiring foodies. Two distinct panels made up of Hugh Acheson, Christina Tosi, Anita Lo, Ken Oringer, Elizabeth Falkner, Mike Lata, Johnny Iuzzini, Stephen Stryjewski, and more will provide key conversations about the hospitality business. Hosted at the Four Seasons Resort, the panels will be moderated by award-winning author Michael Ruhlman. Panelists are subject to change. [Media/industry only; 9:30 and 11 a.m.]
Chillin’ N’ Grillin’ presented by The Gardens Mall challenges Robert Irvine, Hugh Acheson, Beau MacMillan, Timon Balloo, Jeff Mauro, Christina Tosi, Gavin Kaysen and Tory Martindale to reimagine how they grill up their favorite dishes. This event is held at the Four Seasons Resort’s poolside oceanfront terrace. [$125 per person; 12:30 p.m.]
Street Food presented by SYSCO brings out the competitive side of our culinary participants. In this street food competition held in front of the Four Seasons Resort, NYC-based chefs—Marc Murphy, George Mendes, Ken Oringer, Anita Lo, and Elizabeth Falkner—take on five Palm Beach chefs—Clay Conley, Lindsay Autry, Tim Lipman, Dean Max, and Tory Martindale. Prizes for People’s Choice and Judge’s Best Bite will be awarded. Special guest judges include Robert Irvine, Jeff Mauro, Hugh Acheson, and Christina Tosi. [$125 per person; 7 p.m.]
December 13: Daniel & Friends takes Sunday brunch to the next level. Internationally renowned chef Daniel Boulud opens his restaurant, Café Boulud at The Brazilian Court Hotel, for a mid-morning indulgence along with chef Rick Mace and sommelier Mariya Kovacheva. The casual brunch features table after bountiful table of satisfying brunch dishes and more. [$125 per person; 11 a.m.]
The 9th Annual Grand Tasting presented by Stoli receives a facelift with a new location. The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens welcomes the festival and more than 60 of South Florida’s hottest restaurants to serve up their celebrated dishes. Throughout the venue, guests will encounter music from local bands and DJs, a main stage full of action, celebrity chef book signings, holiday-inspired displays, Stoli Mule & Beer Garden, a runway fashion show, and more. Guests will enjoy a much greater variety of tastings, and with more participating restaurants and wineries. For the grand PBFWF conclusion, the crowd will cheer on three local chefs as they compete in Grand Chef Throwdown Finale for the $10,000 prize. [$75 per person; 5 p.m.]
Special priced festival packages are available online. Options include the PBFWF Passport Package with access to all events for a 25 percent savings, the Four Seasons TASTE Package offering an exclusive price of a 15 percent savings to every Four Seasons Resort-hosted event, and the Pick 4 Package, which allows guests to select four events for a 20 percent savings. Packages exclude tickets to Kids Kitchens.
