I was super excited about going to Austin Food & Wine Festival this year since it was my first time. I sadly had work commitments for a lot of the weekend, but here are some of my highlights from the festival. 

My festival experience started with Taste of Texas, a showcase for Texas’ talented chefs. My favorite savory dish was the tender and flavorful Pastrami Beef Cheek by Chef Blaine Staniford of Grace in Fort Worth, and my favorite sweet dish was the dessert duo by Philip Speer of Uchi in Austin. Here are just a few of the creative dishes:

Philip Speer of Uchi (Austin)

Blaine Staniford of Grace (Fort Worth)

My highlight for Saturday was Andrew Zimmern’s balls demo where he taught the crowd how to make Duck Tsukune.

Another highlight was stopping by the fire pit for some of Paul Qui’s grilled pork tongue.

Rock Your Taco on Saturday night was full of many, many delicious taco creations by local and national chefs. While Richard Blais walked away with the best taco honor (he created an octopus and lamb taco), my personal favorites were Bryce Gilmore’s goat taco and Tyson Cole’s fish taco.

Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine/Odd Duck

Tyson Cole of Uchi/Uchiko

Overall I thought the Austin Food & Wine Festival was a fun event for food lovers to geek out at and eat their fill. I loved exercising my palate, learning about celebrity chefs and getting to experience everything the talented chefs brought to the table.

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