What: 24th Annual Autumn Food and Wine Festival
When: September 11 to 13
Where: Village at Northstar
Event organizers have managed to pack an intense amount of events into just three days, with a good mix of both free and paid events. You can spend the weekend filling your head with new culinary ideas, filling your belly with phenomenal food, and filling your eyes with the wonders of nearly 40 artists (as the event has partnered up with Plein Air Painting). Here are a few events that are not to be missed. 800-824-6348, GoTahoeNorth.com.
Blazing Pans
Sunday, Sept. 13, at 4:15 p.m.
The festival’s version of Iron Chef, this event pits reigning champion Mike Trombetta against challenger David Lutz. Both Farm to Belly Personal Chef Services (Trombetta) and Tahoe City’s Evergreen Restaurant (Lutz) opened in 2008.
Trombetta is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute and cultivated his love for food at an early age by eating vegetables from his parents’ garden, picking up lobsters from the docks of Rhode Island and fishing from his uncle’s boat.
Lutz was raised in the Bay Area and attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Lutz’s culinary philosophy, which is seen and tasted in the Evergreen menu, revolves around seasonal dishes featuring local and organic ingredients and high quality, sustainable meats.
In the one-hour competition, the chefs take one main, secret ingredient and create as many dishes as possible in the allotted time. The ingredient will not be revealed until moments prior to the start of the clock, and both chefs will be supplied with a stocked pantry. Last year’s ingredient was rabbit. The Blazing Pans Mountain Chef Cook-Off begins at 4:15 p.m., tickets are $15 and include a complimentary Charbay cocktail.
Sushi Rolling and Sake Seminar
Saturday, Sept. 12
Roll a little sushi, learn a little Japanese history (did you know that the English word ‘Japan’ is an ‘exonym,’ a name for a place that is not used by the local inhabitants?) and the appropriate sake pairings from a Sushi Master from Mikuni. The class is limited to 35 guests, so sign up early. Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Cost $40.
Village Grape Stomp
Friday, Sept. 11, from noon to 2:30 p.m.
Put together a stomping team of four, dress in your best grape stompin’ costumes and enter the sixth annual Village Grape Stomp & Baxter’s Vineyard Luncheon. Teams will stomp barrels of grapes to see who can extract the most juice from the barrel. Prizes are awarded in a variety of categories and the $160 entry fee includes lunch and wine tasting. Just interested in watching? Single lunch/wine tasting tickets are $30. Teams must be registered before September 4.
