More than a dozen years ago, Lee Schrager attended the Food & Wine Aspen Classic and had an epiphany. “I was on the plane back and I thought, ‘How cool would it be to do something like this on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world?’ ” says the vice president of communications for Southern Wine & Spirits. And thus was born the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
The event has hosted everyone from gastro-wizard Ferran Adrià to grill-boy Bobby Flay and all manner of talent in between. For this 13th festival incarnation, along with highly popular events like the Burger Bash smackdown and The Cue barbecue cook-off, Schrager has booked Sports Illustrated swimsuit models to serve appetizers prepared by Emeril Lagasse and Anthony Bourdain will host an “oceanliner”-themed dinner for devoted gourmands. (Feb. 20-23; tickets, $20 to $1,500).
But Miami isn’t the only place where you can get up close and personal with your favorite celebrity chefs. Here are six other food festivals around the country where packing on a few pounds is worth every calorie.
BB&T Charleston Food & Wine Festival
This South Carolina fest showcases Charleston first, its cuisine second. The 100 events across four days take place all over town — be they a sit-down dinner in a historic mansion or a walkaround tasting in a local resto. For its ninth year, Michael Solomonov is putting together an Israeli dinner, cookbook author Andy Ricker will take foodies on a culinary day trip to Thailand, and gypsy brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Evil Twin will cohost a charcuterie-and-beer dinner at Edmonds Oast. Hot ticket: The Waffle House Smackdown was the most popular event last year. (March 6-9; tickets, $45 to $350)
Aspen Food & Wine Classic
It’s like the Aspen Institute, only for foodies. The original American food festival started the trend 32 years ago, and these days some 5,000 serious food-lovers attend, hopping from the Tasting Pavilion in Wagner Park to the top of Ajax Mountain for samples of steaming small plates. Giada De Laurentiis is joining this year and Cook It Raw is hosting a seminar. Hot ticket: Marc Oldman’s seminar on Wines for IPO Millionaires and José Andres’ Tapas Technology. (June 20-22; $1,250 for the weekend)
Austin Food & Wine Festival
Throughout the third-annual festival, chefs will rotate turns at two fire pits set in the main fairground of Butler Park — because if you can’t cook on an open fire, you’re not worth your toque in Texas. Many of the past two years’ stars will be back, but expect lots of fresh blood, as well. “I’m excited to see what new participants will bring to the festival,” says chef Tim Love, the fest’s co-founder. Hot tickets: The Rock Your Taco competition and the roam-around gorge-fest, Taste of Texas. (April 25-27; tickets, $250 to $850)
Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival
Daniel Boulud, Scott Conant and Grant Achatz are just a few of the luminaries who came to honor rising talents in 2013, and this year, you can expect even more names plucked from the culinary firmament. Trend forecasts, a power lunch at one of Beverly Hills’ most exclusive hotels, decadent wine pairings and a Grand Tasting event downtown round out the festival this year, which will take place in LA’s finest restaurants and coolest bars. Hot ticket: Gavin DeGraw and Train performed at the Lexus Live on Grand event in years past, so rest assured you’ll see similar marquee names this year (details are still being ironed out). (Aug. 21-24; tickets, $50 to $1,000)
Relais & Châteaux Gourmetfest
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Relais & Châteaux group of hotels and restaurants is launching a four-day festival of its own, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Michelin stars will abound: At a mycologist-led mushroom hunt and lunch; a Taste of Italy wine-paired meal prepared by Michael White, Michael Tusk and Gaetano Trovato; and the Grand Chefs dinner, where selfies with Joachim Splichal and Barbara Lynch will surely be exchanged. Hot ticket: The Champagne tasting with Olivier Krug himself. (March 27-30; tickets, $160 to $1,095)
New Orleans Wine & Food Experience
Unlike those splashy festivals sponsored by big corporations, the NOWFE (pronounced now-fee) keeps its budget low and its fun quotient high. Along with imported cooks, some 100 local restaurants participate in the four-day event, starting with the Wednesday wine dinner (presented at 30 top restaurants) through the Grand Tasting in the Convention Center, where tables are set up for 250 chefs and winemakers. Hot ticket: The signature event is on Thursday night, when festival-goers walk down a Royal Street, lined in tents. (May 21-24; tickets,$89 to $99, discount packages are available)