Flavor! Napa Valley’s Upcoming Food & Wine Festival

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Flavor! Napa Valley is proud to announce the culinary talent that will shine on the five-day food and wine festival March 16-20, 2016, which supports programs and scholarships at The Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena, CA.

Flavor! Napa Valley showcases the finest in farm-to-table cuisine and world class wines with a series of local and celebrity chef demonstrations, intimate winemaker workshops, as well as grand tastings and exclusive experiences to bring out the best flavors of Napa Valley.

In keeping with tradition, Flavor! Napa Valley celebrates the valley’s abundance of local talent.  Legendary Napa Valley chefs who are returning to participate in 2016 include Robert Curry from Auberge du Soleil; Larry Forgione from the Culinary Institute of America; Michael Gyetvan from Azzurro Pizzeria e Enoteca, Norman Rose Tavern and Atlas Social; Christopher Kostow from The Restaurant at Meadowood; Sean Massey from Morimoto; Sean O’Toole from Torc, and more.

Other Napa Valley featured chefs include Catherine Bergen from Cate & Co.; Dario De Conti and Valentina Guolo-Migotto from Ca’Momi; Cary Delbridge from Brix; Rogelio Garcia from Angele Restaurant; Jeffrey Jake from Silverado Resort and Spa;

Krisztian Karkus from The Meritage Resort and Spa; Levi Mezick from Harvest Table; Nick Ritchie from Atlas Social; Tyler Rodde from Oenotri; Douglass Seeley from Norman Rose Tavern; and Kory Stewart from Sam’s Social Club at Indian Springs Resort, and more.

Richard Blais, winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All Stars, and a graduate from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) who went on to train at The French Laundry, Daniel, Chez Panisse, and el Bulli, will participate in the Judgment of Paris dinner at Silverado Resort and Spa on March 17 starring CIA “all-star” alumni chefs.  He will be joined by Chefs Bradley Ogden, a graduate of the CIA in Hyde Park, NY and founder of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group; Larry Forgione from the Culinary Institute of America; Matthew Accarrino from SPQR in San Francisco; and Justin Yu from Oxheart in Houston.

A complete list of culinary talent, including chef biographies, may be found here.

Chef Demos

A highlight of Flavor! Napa Valley “Chef Demos” include “Cooking with Christopher Kostow,” chef at The Restaurant at Meadowood; “Pizza Making with Tony Gemignani,” of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana; “From Vegas to the Valley with Chef Rick Moonen;” “Offal Good-Cooking with Star Chef Chris Cosentino;” and “Cooking with Top Chef Winner Richard Blais.”

“Terroir to Table”

The five-day food and wine event also includes a series of “Terroir to Table” workshops Thursday, March 17 through Saturday, March 19. These include “Behind the Scenes with Nickel & Nickel;” “Detox to Retox” at Indian Springs Resort; “Appellation Exploration” at HALL Wines; and “Winery Aromatherapy with a Corkscrew” at St. Supery Estate Vineyards as well as chef demonstrations.

Wine Classes

A highlight of Flavor! Napa Valley Wine Classes, offered Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19, include “Spring Awakening & the Rose Revolution;” “Aromatic White Wines for Spring;” “Exploring the Rhone Zone;” and “The Young Turks of Napa Valley.”

Flavor! Napa Valley 2016 Events 

A few of the events I’m most excited about include and will be attending include the below. See full Flavor Napa Valley event list here.

A Celebration of the Judgment of Paris Dinner – March 17th

Inside The Mind of San Francisco Restaurant Critic Michael Bauer – March 18th

The Young Guns Pop Up Dinner at Inglenook – March 18th

The Grand Tasting – March 19th

Other great events I’d recommend include: 

Wednesday, March 16 — First Taste, Napa Valley, presented by Downtown Napa, at the Culinary Institute of America’s new downtown campus at Copia in Napa, 6 – 9 p.m., *$95 per person. *Those who book overnight accommodations in downtown Napa will receive two tickets to the event.

Thursday, March 17 – The Celebrity Chef and Winemaker Golf Tournament, new for 2016, at Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. $175 per person.