Stephen Torres, founder and director of Bill of Fare, a national event series that fuses food and culture, announces the dates for his 2017 Bill of Fare Conference. As the fifth annual conference, this year’s events showcase the connective thread between food and fine art, music and film on Monday, September 25 through Thursday, September 28. Tickets can be purchased here.

Held in Torres’ adopted hometown of New Orleans, each day ($125) showcases an inspired talk with renowned chefs from around the globe with special guests of the stage and screen. The evenings (and lunch event on Thursday) culminate with attendees gathering around the table to enjoy a meal prepared by the featured chefs. The talks and tastes will take place at the International House Hotel (221 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130).

For example, acclaimed rock band, Young The Giant, will lead on the intersection of food and music. Actress Sophia Bush, most-recently of Chicago PD, will open a talk as well with motivational speaker Ruthie Lindsey. Chefs for this year’s conference and dinners will include:

Monday, September 25: Young the Giant, Donald Link and Brett Anderson in discussion about the intersections of food & music with a dinner with Svante Forstop (Paris); Jose Enrique (Puerto Rico, US); Mike Gulotta (MoPho; New Orleans); Adam Biderman (New Orleans, LA). Tickets can be purchased here.

Tuesday, September 26: Talk with Ruthie Lindsey introduced by Sophia Bush and dinner with Steven Greene (Cary, NC); Dan Burns (New York, NY); Rafa Villa Lobos (Oaxaca, MEX); Mason Hereford (Turkey & The Wolf, New Orleans, LA); and Alex Harrell (New Orleans). Tickets can be purchased here.

Wednesday, September 27: Talk led by Chicago broadcaster Steve Dolinsky and dinner with Sota Atsumi (Clown Bar, Paris, FR); Gerard Craft (St. Louis, MO); Daniel Heinze (Los Angeles, CA) and David Posey (Elske, Chicago, IL). Tickets can be purchased here.

Thursday, September 28: Thai lunch from Mark Debbie of Som Saa (London, UK) and Peter Orr (Paris). Tickets can be purchased here.

Morgan McGlone from Belles Hot Chicken in Melbourne, Australia will also host a pop-up at Company Bar during the week’s activities. As a former chef, Stephen Torres has dedicated his career to highlighting the passions and perseverance of the greatest leaders in hospitality.

The culinary entrepreneur explains his vision for the conference. “Bill of Fare started as a small food conference that brought together culinary professionals and serious food lovers to discuss the joys and issues inherent in the industry. I designed the talks to be an open platform for both attendees and speakers to discuss their careers candidly. Without the confines of a lecture, the intimate gatherings spark innovation and true inspiration,” he states.

Bill of Fare is the evolution of Torres’ past events, previously known as Roots of American Food. Past renowned speakers have included award-winning chefs such as Hugh Acheson, Michael Solomonov, Wil Guidara, Dave Beran, David Kinch, Dominique Crenn, Alex Stupak, Kyle Connaughton and more; esteemed journalist such as Francis Lam and GQ’s Brett Martin; and other industry leaders. Torres even dedicated an entire conference to honoring Jeremiah Tower, the pioneer of California cuisine, which was featured in the recent Bourdain-produced documentary on the great chef.