San Antonio to host Tasting Texas Wine + Food festival

Long heralded as a gay capital of the South, San Antonio has been a popular destination for LGBT+ travelers for years. It is home to some of the best drag in the nation and with nightclubs such as Heat and Bonham Exchange it is also perfect for nightlife enthusiasts. San Antonio is also a city of culinary innovation, and they are doubling down on their reputation and expanding it by hosting the Tasting Texas Wine + Food Festival.

A first-of-its-kind partnership with the iconic James Beard Foundation, Texas and San Antonio’s unique culinary draws are coming to the forefront of national attention with the launch of Tasting Texas Wine + Food Festival. The four-day festival “with a purpose” will showcase renowned and up-and-coming chefs from Texas and the city of San Antonio, as well as national all-stars. Debuting October 27-30, 2022, Tasting Texas will entice foodies from around the globe to experience the vast culinary offerings of Texas and the festival’s hometown, San Antonio.

The festival’s highlight will be the “big-as-Texas” Culinary Market October 28-30, featuring more than 100 award-winning chefs at the historic Travis Park, in the heart of colorful downtown San Antonio. The three-day event, running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, will have mouths watering at the tastes to be had. On October 29, Tasting Texas will feature a made-for-San Antonio top-shelf tequila tasting on the banks of the San Antonio River Walk.

The festival continues nightly with a variety of curated collaborations by visiting chefs in San Antonio’s top restaurants. These ticketed experiences will showcase the chefs’ creativity and delight guests’ palates with combinations that can only happen in Texas.

Tasting Texas’ A-list roster of culinary headliners includes:

• Rick Bayless (Chicago), Michelin star-, Top Chef Master- and James Beard Awards-winning celebrity chef
• Steve McHugh (San Antonio), four-time James Beard Award Nominee for Best Chef: Southwest and James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Texas
• Esaul Ramos Jr. (San Antonio), Texas Monthly’s 50 Best BBQ Joints Honoree and James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas
• Emiliano Marentes (El Paso), James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas and featured on Hulu’s “Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi” and Texas Monthly’s “The Ultimate Texas Tacopedia”
• Alex Raij (New York), James Beard Awards Semifinalist for Best Chef in America, and Nominee for Outstanding Restaurateur
• Finn Walter (Lubbock), James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas

Tasting Texas’ full roster of esteemed chefs and full festival schedule will be announced this summer.

Realizing a shared vision with the James Beard Foundation to make good food for good™, and spotlight historically marginalized communities, a partnership between the Foundation, Visit San Antonio, and Culinaria (an organization with more than 20 years of experience operating food and wine events in Central Texas) was a natural progression. Proceeds from Tasting Texas will benefit the James Beard Foundation’s scholarship programs, which in turn, provide opportunities for underserved culinary talent to develop their skills and experience. Further, by providing high-level exposure to chefs from Texas, the city of San Antonio, and others across the country, Tasting Texas aims to help the restaurant industry, locally and nationally, grow from the devastating financial effects of the pandemic.

To learn more, and be the first to receive news and advance ticket purchase opportunities, visit CulinariaSA.org.