For the fifth year, summer brings San Francisco chefs and sommeliers together for their premier food, wine and spirits festival from July 28-August 4. The event represents the spirit of the city, as chefs, restaurateurs, winemakers, barkeeps, breweries, farmers and artisan producers. They celebrate the abundance of fresh ingredients available to the Northern California culinary community at the annual Bay Area event that brings chefs together with their peers, farmers and neighbors.
Photo of a foggy San Francisco skyline by Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia Commons
Grand Tasting Tent Themes
Two hundred of San Francisco’s best restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries and distilleries will be on-hand, serving food and drink to attendees in the Grand Tasting Tent on Union Square during the weekend of the event. Themed events are new this year. Some highlights include:
- Masters of their Craft, July 28: A celebration of SF female chefs and sommeliers at Prospect Restaurant on Spear Street, downtown ($450).
- The Five Tastes, Aug. 3: an exploration of flavor allowing guests to attempt to decipher if the chefs’ dishes are bitter, sour, salty, swee or savory.
- Decadence After Dark, The Menu is in the Music, Aug. 3: chefs will create dishes inspired by their favorite song or band. The music will accompany the guests and chefs’ creations deep into the evening.
- Brunch by the Bay, Aug. 4: Bloody Marys, mimosas, cocktail stations and premier brunch treats are the only way to spend a Sunday morning/afternoon.
Classes and Demos
Classes include:
- Destination Portugal, Sat. Aug. 3 @ 10 a.m.: Sommelier Eugenio Jardim offers a master class of Portuguese wines with cuisine pairings ($35).
- Blending Napa Valley Cabernets, Sat. Aug. 3 @ 11 a.m.: Taste four of wine blender Con Creek’s harvested Cabernets, their Napa Valley Cabernet Franc and their Anthology blend ($35).
- DIY Cocktail Mixers, Sat. Aug. 3 @ 11:30 a.m.: Three SF top cocktail experts will offer tips to DIY mixers instead of buying pre-made varieties. Learn the secrets of the spirit masters ($35).
- Blind Tasting with Top SF Sommeliers & You, Sun. Aug. 4 @ 10:30 a.m.: top SF chefs will teach you to blindly analyze six different wines from different regions and grape varieties ($35).
Finding Your Way Around Town
If you’re not familiar with the city and plan to attend events throughout the week, get out your cell phones, and download these helpful apps:
- Taxi Magic: free online taxi booking service from the web or your mobile.
- iBartNow: using data from the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, this Blackberry app helps locate times for train departures. Locals use the app for their daily transit. Note: it’s helpful when getting to the city from the airport.
- Happy Hours: shows all the food and drink specials near you. Includes photos of bars, menus, locations and gives rankings based on community votes.
With Northern California’s ability to deliver farm to table, chefs bring affordability and sustainability to the forefront of the culinary world. Creating partnerships between farms, wineries and restaurants allows the community of SF to support each other helping everybody thrive.
Chefs will be in action at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market for KPIX5’s SF Chefs Preview Series throughout the month of July. Tickets for the event can be purchased at sfchefsfoodwine.com. Visa Signature cardholders receive discounts because they are the presenting sponsor.
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