JBF is pleased to announce the fourth consecutive year of the Taste America® national culinary tour, which will bring celebrated chefs and eager diners together for a unique series of delectable events this fall. Spanning six weekends, this year’s program will stop in ten dynamic American cities including Boston; Charleston; Chicago; Kansas City; Los Angeles; New Orleans; Phoenix; Portland, OR; San Francisco; and the Twin Cities. Each city’s weekend-long itinerary will feature a one-of-a-kind benefit dinner prepared by a Taste America All-Star and Local Star chef, as well as free in-store consumer events at select Sur La Table® locations with celebrity chef appearances, cooking demos, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans, and more. In addition, James Beard Award winner and Taste America Honorary All-Star Tom Colicchio will launch the 2016 program at an invite-only reception at the historic James Beard House in New York City on August 3.
Taste America programming in each participating city will kick off with A Night of Culinary Stars, an exclusive dining event benefiting the James Beard Foundation. Local chefs participating in A Night of Culinary Stars will be announced with the box office launch in June 2016.
The full 2016 Taste America program calendar is as follows:
- Sept. 23-24 Los Angeles: All-Star Scott Conant* / Phoenix: All-Star Amanda Freitag*
- Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Kansas City: All-Star Gavin Kaysen* / New Orleans: All-Star Alex Guarnaschelli*
- Oct. 14-15 Chicago: All-Star Missy Robbins***
- Oct. 21-22 Portland, OR: All-Star Stephanie Izard*
- Oct. 28-29 Twin Cities: All-Star Jose Garces* / Boston: All-Star John Besh*
- Nov. 4-5 Charleston: All-Star Dan Barber* / San Francisco: All-Star Anita Lo**
*Notes James Beard Award Winner
**Notes James Beard Award Nominee
***Notes James Beard Award Semifinalist
“In recent years, it has been exciting to watch Americans take an ever-growing interest in the sourcing, preparation, and artistry that goes into the food we eat,” said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. “There are great chefs turning out truly inspired food from Charleston to Portland and everywhere in between, and we are thrilled to be able to bring so many of them together to foster a delicious dialogue about our country’s vibrant culinary landscape for the fourth year running.”
The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America 2016 is made possible by the generosity of our sponsors and partners, including premier national sponsor New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation; supporting sponsors Breville®, Sodexo, and TABASCO®; retail partner Sur La Table; national media partner Saveur; and digital media partner The Daily Meal®. Additional support has been provided by Chefwear and VerTerra Dinnerware.
Visit jbftasteamerica.org for more information. Stay tuned for tickets!
