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Calling all food festival junkies: If you want to rub elbows with big-name chefs this weekend, Klyde Warren Park is the place to be. The downtown oasis is kicking off its inaugural food festival Park & Palate this weekend, and they're estimating 3,000 people will come out to eat and drink with chefs from Texas and beyond, including John Tesar, Kent Rathbun, Tyson Cole, Jonathan Waxman, Graham Dodds, Brian Luscher, Andrew Wiseheart, Omar Flores, Misti Norris, and many more.
Tonight is the "Down to the Roots" event featuring 12 chefs in a cook-off of "comfort food with a modern spin." Chef and Chopped judge Amanda Freitag will lead the judging, and there will be live music (and perhaps more importantly, lots of booze). Then Saturday it's a gigantic Grand Tasting with food from 30-plus chefs, plus — yay — more booze.
Fair warning: As with most fancy food festivals, tickets do not come cheap (although all proceeds benefit the park). A weekend pass is $275, while the Grand Tasting alone is $150 — but let's face it, you'll probably spend that much at the State Fair of Texas, which opened today and will no doubt be Park & Palate's biggest competition this weekend.
