Fest News: Details Emerge About Big Food Events in Asheville and Nashville – Nashville Scene

Fest News: Details Emerge About Big Food Events in Asheville and Nashville  Nashville Scene

Local chefs will be part of both Asheville’s Chow Chow and Nashville’s Music City Food + Wine Fest.

Local chefs will be part of both Asheville’s Chow Chow and Nashville’s Music City Food + Wine Fest

Chow Chow1The end of summer is definitely the height of food-festival season, with events around the country like Music City Food + Wine, Greenville, S.C.’s Euphoria, Feast Portland and a big new festival in Asheville all taking place over a two-week period in mid-September. It’s surprising that a popular foodie destination like Asheville hasn’t already had a big culinary confab on the calendar, but that all changes this year.

Chow Chow is scheduled for Sept. 12-15 at sites all over the lovely city of Asheville. Celebrating the city’s vibrant community of makers from chefs to brewers to farmers to craftspeople, this festival is sponsored by Kimpton Hotel Arras and is presented in collaboration with Explore Asheville — not to be confused with the folks behind those television ads where “the mountains are calling.” Asheville is a world away from our side of the Smokies, but it’s less than a five-hour drive from Nashville. It’s already a popular destination for weekend excursions from Music City, particularly when it comes to fans of food and bev. Boasting world-class restaurants and breweries, Asheville is the sort of spot that makes you wish Lyft had buses to bring your butt home after three days of pleasant indulgence. (Or hey, there’s always Megabus!)

The weekend of Chow Chow will feature more than 40 different culinary events, ranging from special chef dinners and tasting events to hands-on workshops and food tours of different neighborhoods. The grand tasting tent will be called Pickled in the Park and will be located in Pack Square Park, smack in the middle of downtown. Since it’s a first-year fest with an embarrassment of fantastic local and regional talent to pull from, the schedule is actually a little all-over-the-place, but in a delightful way that makes sense as part of Asheville’s quirky, free-wheeling personality. It just means you’ll have to make some difficult choices as you peruse Chow Chow’s schedule.

There will also be some Nashville talent taking part in the festival — though I’ll admit they’re probably stretching the meaning of the term “talent” since I’ll be one of them. I’ll moderate what should be a fascinating panel called Brewing a Culinary Revolution: Ingenuity in Your Glass and on Your Plate, featuring Doug Reiser of Burial Beer Co. and Forestry Camp Bar and Restaurant, Brian Canipelli from Cucina 24 and Forestry Camp Bar and Restaurant, Todd Boera and Chef Obie Ferguson from Fonta Flora, Roy Milner of Blackberry Farm Brewery and Cassidee Dabney, the chef at The Barn at Blackberry Farm. I’ll be leading that discussion on Friday, Sept. 13 (I’m sure that’s not bad luck or anything), from 4-5 p.m. EST at Hotel Arras, if you’d like to come heckle me. Other more talented Middle Tennessee talent will include the folks from Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and Karl Worley of Biscuit Love and ‘za.

Tickets to many of the more popular events have already sold out, but if you’d like to spend some time in the beautiful mountains of Asheville discovering what the food and beverage scene has to offer, visit the official website to make your plans and buy your tickets ASAP.

As the dates approach for the annual Music CIty Food + Wine Festival, organizers have issued information about some of the local participants that will be taking part. The tenor of the announcement could be, in part, a response to this story from our own Steve Cavendish, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Any opportunity to shine a spotlight on our homegrown talent is appreciated. Among the Nashville-area participants mentioned are huge celebrities like Martina McBride and Franklin transplant Kathie Lee Gifford. McBride hosts Martina’s Table on Food Network and will join fellow TV host Tyler Florence for a joint cooking demo on Friday, Sept. 20. The duo will share some of their favorite recipes that they make for their own families when they’re entertaining at home.

Gifford will conduct an interactive tasting of her GIFFT Wines, created in partnership with Scheid Family Wines, over the course of the weekend in the Meet the Maker tent. She’ll also MC the Friday Night Throwdown, which pairs chefs Carla Hall (author, TV personality) and Tim Love (Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Woodshed Smokehouse, Queenie’s Steakhouse, Love Shack, White Elephant Saloon, Gemelle) as they go head to head in a friendly competitive cooking demo, captaining teams featuring celebrity sous chefs from the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. Each team’s charity of choice will receive a charitable donation, with the winning team earning an additional donation.

But enough about the megastars. What about our lesser-known culinary talent? Music City Food + Wine has also announced an additional list of local participating chefs and restaurateurs who will cook at the tasting tents on Friday, Sept. 20. In addition to the previously announced list, they have added chefs Brandon Frohne (Holler & Dash Biscuit House,) Genevieve Ingham (Sur La Table,) Jay Pennington (Urban Grub) and Jeffery Chambless Rhodes (Liberty Common.)

Music City Food + Wine Festival is proud to announce the addition of some of the city’s most beloved chefs and restaurants, including chefs Brandon Frohne (Holler & Dash Biscuit House); Genevieve Ingham (Sur La Table); Jay Pennington (Urban Grub); Jeffery Chambless Rhodes (Liberty Common); and Andrew Wiseheart (Lady Bird); they’ll be cooking Friday, Sept. 20. Sunday’s Gospel Brunch will feature chefs R.J. Cooper (Saint Stephen), Romain Fournel (Stompin Grounds Marke), Genevieve Ingham and Emma Livingston (The Old School Nashville). They’ll each serve up traditional Sunday brunch favorites.

For tickets and more information, visit musiccityfoodandwinefestival.com.