James Beard Foundation’s Fifth Anniversary Taste America Tour To Visit Ten Diverse Culinary Cities

NEW YORK, NY – The James Beard Foundation (JBF) is pleased to announce that tickets for the fifthanniversary year of the Taste America® national culinary tour are now on sale at jamesbeard.org/taste-america-tickets. The cross-country program will heat up this fall in ten dynamic culinary destinations including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle. 

Taste America Honorary All-Star Thomas Keller* will officially kick off the gastronomic tour, which brings together celebrated chefs and fervent foodies for a series of delicious events, in New York City on August 2 with an invitation-only reception at the James Beard House. 

From September 22 to November 11, each city’s weekend-long program will feature a one-of-a-kind benefit dinner, calledA Night of Culinary Stars, prepared by a traveling Taste America All-Star, a Local Star chef and a pastry chef. The Taste America programming will also include free in-store consumer events at select Sur La Table® locations, featuring celebrity chef appearances, cooking demonstrations, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans, and more.

Below is the 2017 Taste America program calendar:

·         Sept. 22-23

o    Phoenix: All-Star Traci Des Jardins*; Local Star Nobuo Fukuda*

·         Oct. 6-7     

o    Los Angeles: All-Star Barbara Lynch*; Local Star Michael Cimarusti**

o    New Orleans: All-Star (to be announced soon); Local Star Rebecca Wilcomb*

·         Oct. 13-14   

o    Philadelphia: All-Star Marc Murphy*;  Local Star Greg Vernick*

o    Seattle: All-Star (to be announced soon); Local Star Matt Dillon*

·         Oct. 27-28 

o    Chicago: All-Star Michael Voltaggio; Local Star Stephanie Izard*

o    San Francisco: All-Star Hugh Acheson*; Local Stars Stuart Brioza* & Nicole Krasinski*  

·         Nov. 3-4      

o    Austin: All-Star Ludo Lefebvre**; Local Star Tyson Cole*

o    Boston: All-Star Daniel Boulud*; Local Star Karen Akunowicz**

·         Nov. 10-11   

o    Kansas City: All-Star Tony Mantuano*; Local Star Debbie Gold*

*Notes James Beard Award Winner

**Notes James Beard Award Nominee

The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America 2017 is made possible by the generosity of our sponsors and partners, including supporting sponsors Blue Circle Foods®, Breville®, Kerrygold, Sodexo, TABASCO®, and Windstar Cruises; retail partner Sur La Table®; national media/marketing partners The Daily Meal®, Destinations International and Off Duty / The Wall Street Journal; and founding partner Bowen & Company. Additional support is provided by Chefwear, Hansgrohe, and VerTerra Dinnerware.

“More and more, we are hearing from our passionate community of culinary connoisseurs that they want our unique Beard House dining experience in their city,” said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. “How exciting that we are in our fifth anniversary year and able to bring the best of the best chefs to diverse cities across the country. We thank the chefs and our sponsors, who make it possible to help support our many education programs, at a time when culinary tourism is exploding in popularity.”  

The James Beard Foundation is proud to donate a portion of the evening’s proceeds to the Taste America Scholarship Fund. Local culinary students in the 10 participating states were invited to apply for this culinary scholarship between April 1 and May 15, 2017, via jamesbeard.org. Candidates will be reviewed by the JBF Scholarship Selection Committee, chaired by JBF president Susan Ungaro.

For more information on JBF’s Fifth Anniversary Taste America culinary tour, please visit jamesbeard.org/tasteamerica.

About the James Beard Foundation

Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org. Get food news, recipes, and more at the James Beard Foundation’s blog, or subscribe to the free digital newsletter Beard Bites. Follow @beardfoundation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Watch the James Beard House Kitchen Cam, James Beard Awards, and more on the Foundation’s Livestream channel. Find more JBF-related video on the Foundation’s YouTube channels.

 Source: James Beard Foundation