The 7th annual Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival brought together culinary celebrities, home cooks and foodie enthusiasts over a beautiful weekend, from March 24 – 26. Two days of grand tastings were marked by extravagant food and drink, along with live demonstrations from celebrity chefs, TV personalities and kitchen masterminds alike. Set in the El Paseo shopping district, the Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival embodied the fun-yet-relaxed feel of the Coachella Valley and region’s surprisingly diverse culinary talent. So what made this year’s Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival stand out? In a nutshell, the cooking demonstrations blew it out of the park, there was more wine and champagne than you knew what to do with, and the food offerings featured some remarkable dishes not seen in years past. In some cases forced guests to pick and choose among simultaneous performances…first-world problem indeed. Highlights below: Saturday Grand Tasting Talent and Demonstrations
Culinary
Sunday Grand Tasting Talent and Demonstrations
Culinary
Wineries present included labels from France, Canada, New York, Virginia, Washington and of course California, including Napa and Sonoma as well as across Southern California. Beer standouts included Babe’s Brewhouse, Ace Cider and Bootlegger’s Brewery. And while there was no shortage of festivities that took place, it is necessary to note that a significant number of food vendors wrapped things up well before the event ended each day. Many booths ran out of food and closed down by 2:30, when the festival was set to last until 4 p.m. There were also noticeably fewer food vendors on Sunday’s grand tasting compared to Saturday, with some never showing up in the first place. While this didn’t significantly take away from the overall experience, one would hope that these scenarios would be more the exception than the trend leading into next year. The 2018 Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival is already highly anticipated. For more information, PalmDesertFoodAndWine.com
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AuthorBenjamin Brown is a seasoned restaurant writer and hospitality consultant, serving up SoCal's hottest food news and reviews. Categories
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