If the last 20 months or so of lock downs, canceled events, limited socializing, and restricted dining options have left you hungry for celebrating the joys of gastronomy, the 17th San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival, November 11-14 is just what you need to satisfy your appetite.
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Love Seafood? Love Wine? Want to spend several hours enjoying both at one of San Diego’s premier oceanfront restaurants? Then you don’t want to miss the Ocean-to-Table Luncheon held at The Marine Room in La Jolla Shores as part of the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival on Wednesday, November 13 from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Continue reading
How much do you love sushi? If the answer is “a lot” or any reasonable facsimile thereof, then you definitely want to get yourself to Sushi Festival San Diego, this Sunday, October 27, 2019 from 2PM to 10PM at The Dana on Mission Bay. There, several of San Diego’s top sushi masters will endeavor to set a world record by crafting the most sushi pieces in a 48 hour period, from Saturday at 8pm until Monday 8pm—-with a goal of 100,000 pieces! That’s a lot of rice and fish!!! And the best part is, lucky Sushi Festival San Diego goers will be able to devour the results at Sunday’s event. The record-setting pieces will be available to a limited number of VIPs during the all-you-can-eat festival experience. Other attendees can purchase the mouthwatering bites at a discounted price. Continue reading
Glasses ready for wine at Grand Tasting event
The San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival is turning Sweet Sixteen, and everyone is invited to the party! Taking place over an entire week of gastronomic pleasures, the Festival brings together San Diego’s top tastemakers to showcase the diversity of the area’s farms, seas, sustainable practices, taco culture, Baja influence and more. There’s a good reason the San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival was named the winner of the 2019 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest for Best General Food Festival. The Festival’s tagline of “Arrive at Awesome” says it all!
Welcome to the Grand Tasting
Happening November 9-17, the San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival draws over 10,000 foodies, oenophiles, beer and spirits enthusiasts, and the culinary curious to over 40 separate events, culminating in the ever-popular Grand Tasting on November 16 and Taco TKO on November 17. With a majority of new-this-year events combined with longstanding returning favorites, there is truly something for everyone, from elegant wine pairing dinners to a beer-showcasing pool party, from the serious wine-centric Grand Decant to a chill cookout, from cooking classes to wine tastings. With a nod to San Diego’s world famous craft breweries, an increasing number of the events highlight local beers. Some of the events are already sold out, so click here for a complete list of all the happenings and ticket info.
A tasting of scallops!
Just a few of the many fresh additions to this year’s Festival schedule include:
Stagecraft Beerfest Kicking off the festivities on November 9 at the Viejas Casino & Resort, the venue’s 3 restaurants and 8 local breweries come together around the Allure pool area at the Willows Hotel for an afternoon of food and beer pairings with live music. $50
Barbecue & Bourbon On Sunday, November 10, guests will enjoy barbecue and beverages with views of the San Diego skyline and Coronado Bridge from the lawns of the Coronado Island Marriott & Spa. The casual event is family friendly. $65.
Expedition: San Diego Beer Tour Also taking place on Sunday, November 10, beer lovers can take a guided tour to some of San Diego’s top beer producers. During the fun and educational experience, guests will enjoy the VIP treatment while sampling a variety of brews, meeting with brewery staff, taking an educational class and gaining first hand knowledge of the art of craft beer making. Lunch and transportation is included. $120
Morning Glory’s Breakfast For Dinner Held at one of San Diego’s hottest new restaurants on Monday November 11, the menu will include such gourmet tantalizers as sturgeon caviar, cured duck eggs, heirloom tomato quiche, smoked salmon mousse, and much more. Moët Champagne will be served throughout the evening. $115
Pizza Making with Buona Forchetta On Tuesday November 12, guests will sip Prosecco and experience a hands-on pizza-making lesson, while learnng about the history of the authentic “Neapolitan style” pizza this extremely popular pizzeria is known for. $60
The list of almost 70 participating talent includes an array of highly respected and well-known chefs, winemakers, brewers, sommeliers, and artisans.
Participating Chefs at the 2018 Ocean-to-Table Luncheon at The Marine Room. Always a sold-out favorite, the event returns this year.
This year the host hotel is the beautiful new Intercontinental San Diego, which is also the location for several of the Festival’s events.
Click here for all the San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival info.
Chef Flor Franco plates a dish
By Wendy Lemlin
For Chef Francesca Penoncelli, Ciccia Osteria is the manifestation of a long held dream.
Chef Francesca Penoncelli
Mario Cassineri welcomes guests to Ciccia Osteria
Chef Francesca Penoncelli has cooked in high-end kitchens all over the world, from her native Italy to such far-off places as Paris, Seoul, Beirut and Dubai, before landing in the U.S. more than a dozen years ago. Never one to draw attention to herself, she’s mostly stayed in the background while her more outgoing husband, fellow chef, and business partner Mario Cassineri has represented the pair in the limelight (but always making sure to credit her contributions!). With the opening of Ciccia Osteria in the newly-hip neighborhood of Barrio Logan, Chef Francesca is fulfilling her dream of owning a “small, simple restaurant” with Mario, and putting the couple’s spin on time-honored family recipes with a touch of modern interpretation. Continue reading
When a party celebrates local farmers, ranchers and fishermen, as well as the chefs who make it a point to use locally harvested produce and proteins in their restaurants, well then, you know it’s going to be one heck of a gathering!
On September 8, one such party, dubbed Farmers, Chefs, and Fishermen, will kick off San Diego Farm to Fork Week, and if you’re a lover of authentic farm-to-table cuisine, this is a fête you don’t want to miss. Held at the historic Mission Hills Nursery, the event will run from 4 to 7 pm and guests will enjoy bites and beverages from more than 20 chefs, vintners and other beverage makers. Ticket sales will benefit Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center. Click here for party and ticket info. Continue reading
Attendees to enjoy Baja-inspired cuisine from top regional chefs, local craft beer, and live music while raising funds for coastal habitat and marine wildlife conservation
On Saturday, June 22, WILDCOAST, an international conservation organization protecting some of the most beautiful and biologically significant coastal areas in the Californias and Latin America, will hold its 7th annual Baja Bash to support the organization’s important conservation programs. Held at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club from 5pm-9pm, the event always puts the “fun” in “fundraiser”, and will be a celebration of Baja California’s natural beauty and the opportunity for adventure it holds. The organization’s work preserving the peninsula’s most beautiful and wild beaches, islands, and lagoons will be spotlighted and the festivities will feature Baja-inspired sustainable cuisine, a silent auction, and music. Proceeds from the event will benefit WILDCOAST’s continued efforts to conserve the most threatened coastal habitats and wildlife in the California’s and Southern Mexico, and Latin America.
These days, everyone loves Baja, especially her beaches and coastal areas. In fact, people love Baja so much, that much of her once mostly-deserted 1900 miles of coastlines have fallen under targeted assault from increased development and industrial growth. Coral reefs and mangrove forests teeming with sea life, pristine beaches where endangered sea turtles nest, and bays that are the birthing areas for gentle California grey whales—all are in danger of disappearing, and the marine species and other fauna that depend on these fragile ecosystems are also in peril.
Luckily, 19 years ago WILDCOAST (aka COSTASALVAJE in Spanish) began working to watchdog and protect the marine ecosystems and wildlife on Baja’s coasts, as well as coastal areas in San Diego and other Mexican and Latin American regions.
Founded in 2000 by Serge Dedina, currently mayor of Imperial Beach, CA,. WILDCOAST has boasted many successes over the year. Some of these include helping to conserve:
more than 9.2 million acres of globally significant bays, beaches, lagoons, coral reefs and islands
17,536 acres of Marine Protected Areas in Southern California
1,125 acres of coral reefs in Mexico
74,689 acres of mangrove forests undergoing protection
5,720 acres of carbon-sequestering mangroves protected in Bhaia Magdelana and the Gulf of California
WILDCOAST’s programs benefit such species as sea turtles, grey whales, sharks and other sea life, as well as California condors and coastal birds, pronghorn antelope, and desert big horn sheep .
The pre-gala festivities for Baja Bash will kick off earlier in the afternoon, with an Electric Boat Fundraising Challenge, in which 6 teams will compete for trophies, and in the process raise a projected $45,000 to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife.
The Gala itself begins at 5pm, during which guests will enjoy delicious bites from several of Baja and San Diego’s most celebrated chefs:
Drew Deckman of Deckman’s En El Mogor in Valle de Guadalupe
Bianca Castro Cerio, Pastry Cheff at Biscotti’s Venuzzi Reposteria in Tijuana.
Ben Bechelli of Dija Mara in Oceanside, CA
Angelo Sosa of Death By Tequila in Encinitas, CA
Ken Irvine of SEA180 in Imperial Beach, CA
Christopher Aguirre of Loews Coronado in Coronado, CA
Kevin Templeman of Barleymash in San Diego
Live music will be provided by Buena Vista SoCal Club (dancing is encouraged!!), and brews by Baja Brewing Company will help put everyone in the party spirit.
Tickets are on sale now! $95 per person or $700 for a table of 8. Purchase Tickets Here! or at the door.
If you love our coastlines, no matter which side of the border you favor, and the creatures that are trying to survive in and nearby them, please consider donating to WILDCOAST, even if you aren’t able to attend Baja Bash.
Colorado Cays Yacht Club is located at 30 Caribe Cay Boulevard, Coronado, CA 92118.
Question: Where will you find the most ooutstanding variety of regional Mexican food?
Answer: San Diego
What? You say San Diego is in California, not Mexico? Well, yes, but on June 1, the best of Mexican cuisine comes to San Diego for the Mexico Gourmet Festival, a one-night tribute to Mexican gastronomy, traditions and art, held on the Embarcadero Marina Park South from 5pm-9pm.
More than 30 chefs and traditional cooks from 13 different regions of Mexico, each with their own cooking style, favorite ingredients, and signature flavors will be presenting their cuisines at the Mexico Gourmet Festival. Ciudad de Mexico, Baja California, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Hidalgo, Coahuila, Veracruz, Yucatán, Tlaxcala, Sonora, Chiapas, and yes, even San Diego and Los Angeles will be represented. Mexico Gourmet Festival goers will have the chance to sample the cuisine and products from some of the most prominent chefs, restaurants, artists and vendors on both sides of the border, while experiencing the sights and sounds of Mexico. Of course, you’ll want to pair all that gastronomic bliss with equally outstanding beverages, so the Festival will also showcase craft beers, Baja wines, and authentic tequila and mezcal from at least 18 producers. Now, I call that a fiesta! Continue reading
I love the opening intro on the About page of San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival’s website. “The most valuable things these days are not things at all, they are experiences that move us from our normal, everyday state-of-being to a place that’s completely unique. As wanderers, our need to find awe-inspired moments that please our taste buds as much as our sense of discovery drives us forward. It’s the high road to delicious. It’s the scenic route to wow.” These sentiments totally line up with my purpose in founding Borderlines Food & Travel, which is probably why SDBWFF has always been one of my favorite annual foodie events..
With the 2018 theme “Arrive at Awesome”, San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, our area’s largest, most diverse gastronomic celebration returns for its 15th year November 11-18 with 40 separate events and experiences, many of which are already sold out. There is something for everyone, from elegant multi-course dinners to fun and casual samplings, and from educational talks to hands-on classes.
An impressive lineup of both local and guest chefs, sommeliers, vintners, distillers, brewers, and craft food artisans will be cooking, pouring, judging, and teaching throughout the week-long festival. The complete list of about 90 talented experts can be found here.
A few of the returning favorite events include
Ocean to Table Provence Rosé Wine Lunch, hosted by Chef Bernard Guillas and held at The Marine Room in La Jolla. The five course seafood-centric meal with wine pairings will feature the culinary creations of Guillas and Chefs Andrew Spurgin, Claudia Sandoval, Jason McLeod Flor Franco, Evan Cruz, Patrick Ponsaty, Javier Plascencia, Dean James Max, Amy DiBiase, and Michele Coulon. The seven different rosés represents Provence’s fines,t and the theme of sustainability of our seafood and conservation of the ocean’s bounty is a key tenet of all the participating chefs’ culinary philosophy.
Expedition Baja, a day trip to Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s burgeoning wine-producing area, about 100 miles south of San Diego.
Louis Latour at Mister A’s where the King of Burgundy’s Grand Cru showcases their best 2010 and 2015 wines paired with a 5 course luncheon
Taco TKO, a competition showdown between 11 restaurants to determine whose tacos take the tortilla as best in town.
Grand Decant, a tasting from 200 domestic and international wineries led by leading sommeliers and winemakers.
The Grand Tasting, the most popular event of the festival with tastings from over 60 restaurants and celebrity chefs, hundreds of wine, beer and spirits purveyers, and gourmet food artisans, as well as the “crowning” of the Chef of the Fest.
Grand Tasting
Exciting new events this year include:
Hungry foodies can also sate their appetites at special, multi-course, multi-chef dinners presented at some of San Diego’s favorite restaurants, including Coasterra, Cucina Enoteca, The Prado, and Marriott Marquis San Diego.
Wine, beer and spirits will be celebrated at
The above is just a partial list of events! Click here for all event ticket info, dates, and locations.
So, whether you plan to attend just one or two events, or the complete schedule, I suggest you wear your elastic waist, loosest fitting clothes, and just get comfortable with the fact that the scale is not going to be your friend this week, so don’t even look. There will be too many fantastic dishes to savor and beverages to imbibe not to enjoy every mouthful completely, without guilt!
With a powerhouse team, Vistal, InterContinental San Diego’s signature restaurant offers upscale dining not just for hotel guests
by Wendy Lemlin
Vistal’s harborview patio
Yes, the food is excellent, the open, contemporary space compelling, and the views out over San Diego’s harbor gorgeous. But one thing that is sure to entice locals to experience Vistal, the signature restaurant at San Diego’s new bayfront Intercontinental Hotel, is COMPLIMENTARY 3 hour valet parking! Yes, as in FREE. In an area overlooking the Embarcadero and cruise ship terminal, where meters are enforced 24-7 and charges add up quickly, that is huge! Think of trying to park anywhere near most of the other premier fine dining restaurants in San Diego or La Jolla, especially at luxury hotels that seem to charge for anything they can, and you know why this is a big deal.
Chef’s Paul McCabe & Amy DiBiase
But, of course, free parking alone wouldn’t mean much if Vistal wasn’t serving food worth coming downtown for. With the powerhouse team of Chefs Paul McCabe and Amy DiBiase at the helm, however, damn good food is pretty much a given. Continue reading