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 15^th 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:

• Pitmasters Veteran Day Barbecue with TV personality, author and Celebrity Chef Graham Elliot and local chefs Michael Poompan and Aaron Obregon held at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa.
• Food Tank Summit presented by the Berry Good Food Foundation. With the theme “Growing the Food Movement” this all day summit will feature over 30 speakers from the food and agriculture industry.
• Master Class in Organic, Natural Farming and Grape Growing spotlighting a holistic approach to farming and biodiversity in growing healthy and sustainable vineyards.
• Kaiseki: The Soul of Japanese Cusine, a dinner and sake pairing presenting Japanese haute cuisine.
• You & Yours Distilling Co. Cocktail Mixing Class will teach attendees how to mix drinks like a pro.
• Smoked: A Live Fire Experience, a four-course family-style BBQ dinner done campfire style with open flame cooking and smoking techniques along with whiskey and beer pairings and live bluegrass music.

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

• Raised by Wolves Speakeasy Opening Party

• SOMM 3 Screening & Blind Tasting

• Syrah is the New Cab: A Blind Exploration

• Rare 8 Decades of Barolo Tasting

• Oysters + Caviar + Dom Perignon

• Napa Valley: Bordeaux Varieties, Burgundy Mentality

• Pop the Corks! Celebrity Chef Tastings & Fine Wine Experience

• Exotic Wines of Lodi Blind Taste Challenge

• Delve Into the Different Styles of Sake

• Bar Tiki After Party

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!