The James Beard Foundation (JBF) is pleased to announce that tickets for the fifth anniversary year of the Taste America national culinary tour are now on sale. The cross-country program will heat up this fall in 10 dynamic culinary destinations including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle.
Austin’s weekend-long Taste America program will feature an exclusive kick-off event, a one-of-a-kind benefit dinner prepared by Taste America All-Star Ludo Lefebvre, Local Star Tyson Cole and pastry chef Laura Sawicki, as well as free in-store consumer events at Sur La Table – Domain Northside with celebrity chef appearances, cooking demonstrations, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans, and more.
Austin’s itinerary will kick off on Thursday, November 2 with Smoke Session, a night of BBQ, brews and blues hosted by Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue, Austin) and featuring some of the city’s rising culinary talent, including Teddy Bricker (Soursop, Austin), Zach Hunter (The Brewer’s Table, Austin), Evan LeRoy (LeRoy and Lewis, Austin), Ben Runkle (Salt & Time, Austin), and Callie Speer (Holy Roller, Austin). A Night of Culinary Stars, an exclusive dining event benefiting the James Beard Foundation, will take place on Friday, November 3 at W Austin.
The evening will begin with a reception filled with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from local chefs and restaurateurs, including Illiana de la Vega (El Naranjo, Austin), Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue, Austin), Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine, Austin), James Zoller (Trace at W Austin, Austin), and Philip Speer (Bonhomie, Austin). Afterwards, guests will be seated for an extraordinary one-night-only dinner prepared by Taste America All-Star Ludo Lefevbre (Trois Familia, Petit Trois, Trois Mec and Ludo Bird in Los Angeles) along with Local Star Tyson Cole (Uchi, Austin) and pastry chef Laura Sawicki (Launderette, Austin).
On Saturday, November 4, free in-store consumer events will take place at Sur La Table located at Domain Northside, 11800 Domain Boulevard, Suite 130, Austin, Texas 78758. Activities of the day will include cooking demonstrations and book signings by All-Star Ludo Lefevbre and Local Star Tyson Cole, tastings from local producers and artisans, as well as product demonstrations and tastings from our national sponsors. Reservations for the free cooking demonstrations will begin on Friday, October 20th .
Visit Austin’s event page for the full schedule and more details.
Below is the JBF’s Fifth Anniversary Taste America program calendar:
Sept. 22-23
- Phoenix: All-Star Traci Des Jardins*; Local Star Nobuo Fukuda
Oct. 6-7
- Los Angeles: All-Star Barbara Lynch*; Local Star Michael Cimarusti
- New Orleans: All-Star (to be announced soon); Local Star Rebecca Wilcomb
Oct. 13-14
- Philadelphia: All-Star Marc Murphy; Local Star Greg Vernick
- Seattle: All-Star (to be announced soon); Local Star Matt Dillon
Oct. 27-28
- Chicago: All-Star Michael Voltaggio; Local Star Stephanie Izard
- San Francisco: All-Star Hugh Acheson; Local Stars Stuart Brioza* & Nicole Krasinski
Nov. 3-4
- Austin: All-Star Ludo Lefebvre; Local Star Tyson Cole
- Boston: All-Star Daniel Boulud; Local Star Karen Akunowicz
Nov. 10-11
- Kansas City: All-Star Tony Mantuano*; Local Star Debbie Gold
