A few of my favorite things

Austin Food & Wine Festival dishes out top-tier talent lineup for 2022

Mouthwatering food, delicious wines, and talented chefs are the highlights of this three-day event.

Photo by Charles Reagan, courtesy of Austin Food & Wine Festival

One of Austin's most beloved bacchanalias returns this fall. Presented by Food & Wine magazine and Austin's own C3 Presents, the eleventh annual Austin Food & Wine Festival will take place from November 4-6, and tickets are now on sale. Attracting top-tier talent to Texas, the three-day celebration showcases some of the best food, wine, and spirits in the country.

Anchored at Auditorium Shores, festival highlights include a Wurst Weekend Kickoff event (new this year); the always popular Rock Your Taco competition; flaming bites from the Fire Pit; cooking demos and conversations; samples on samples of signature dishes and beverage tastings; and, of course, live music.

This year's event showcases a dynamic roster of local, regional, and national chefs, whose wares and wines can be sampled throughout the weekend. Head to austinfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets for tickets, and see the lineup below for a highlight of things to come.

Wurst Weekend Kick-off
Chef Tim Love (Lonesome Dove) and Jesse Herman (Koko's) will kick off the weekend with a Bavarian-themed menu of sausage, brats, pork, and more cooked over a live fire. Featuring regional wines and beers, AFWF says the event is sure to be "the best (wurst) way to kick off the weekend."

Rock Your Taco
In Saturday evening’s signature tasting event, chefs will square off to create the ultimate taco, voted on by guests. This year's competitors include: Shion Aikawa (Tatsu-ya); Nicola Blaque (The Jerk Shack & Mi Roti); Jo Chan (Chan Hospitality); Tiffany Derry (Roots Southern Table); Ford Fry (Superica); Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde Restaurant); Sarah Heard and Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic); CJ Jacobson (Aba); Steve McHugh (Cured); Shota Nakajima (Banzai Teriyaki, Taku); Laura Sawicki (pastry chef, Austin); and Brooke Williamson (Playa Provisions).

Chef Demos
The weekend's chef demos will include tips and tricks from a host of chefs, including Jo Chan (Chan Hospitality); Tiffany Derry (Roots Southern Table); Kevin Fink (Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group); Ford Fry (Superica); Diego Galicia and Rico Torres (Mixtli); Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde Restaurant); and Fermín Núñez (Este).

Fire Pit
Featuring bites "hot off the flames," with pitmasters and chefs cooking over live fire, this event showcases exceptional barbecue and other dishes. Guests will get first-hand advice from the pros, including: Sonya Coté (Hillside Farmacy); Jason Dady (Jason Dady Restaurants SATX); Jorge Luis Hernandez (Hotel Emma); Andy Knudson (Tillie’s); Jesse Kuykendall (Milpa, Ocho); Shota Nakajima (Banzai Teriyaki, Taku); and Kristina Zhoa (DASHI Sichuan Kitchen + Bar).

Chef Showcase
Local and regional chefs participating in the Saturday and Sunday chef showcases are: Alma Alcocer (El Alma); William Ankeney (Tiny Pies); Junior Borges (Meridian); Daniel Brooks (Licha’s, Chapulín Cantina); Jeff Brown (Old Thousand); Raul Castillo (Honey Moon Spirit Lounge); Ji Peng Chen (Wu Chow); Jakub Czyszczon (Garrison); Todd Duplechan (Vixen’s Wedding); Javier and Judith Equihua (Ma’Coco); Nick Erven (Wax Myrtle’s); Roberto Espinosa (Taco Deli); Jacob Euler (La Vacher); Joseph Gomez (Con-Todo); Jesse Herman (KoKo’s); CJ Jacobson (Aba); Justin Klajbor (Central Machine Works); Enma Lopez (ABW Can-Tina); Geronimo Lopez (Botika); Liz Everett and Stephanie Everett Martin (Ensenada ATX); Brad McDonald (Nido); Jason McVearry (Poke-Poke); Anne Ng & Jeremy Mandrell (Bakery Lorraine); Andre Molina (Aviary Wine & Kitchen); Kyle Mulligan (1417); Eric Nathal (Austin Rotisserie); Brian Olenjack (Lonesome Dove); Pedro Quevedo and Alex Swenson (Gelato Paradiso); Phoebe Raileanu (Casper Fermentables); Blake Ransome (Rules & Regs); Berty Richter (Ladino); Jeramie Robinson (Catbird); Ryan Samson (Vespaio, Chapulín Cantina); Shun Shiroma (Sazan Ramen); Krystal Craig and Ian Thurwachter (Intero); Leanna Valenti (Bento Picnic); Finn Walter, (The Nicolett); Jessica Winters (Cruzteca); Ling Wu (Lin Asian Bar); and Kristina Zhao, (DASHI Sichuan Kitchen + Bar).

Ticket types range from VIP, All-in, Weekender, and One-Day passes — each with their own degree of special access and benefits. All attendees must be 21 years of age or older.

The Austin Food & Wine Festival is the benefactor of the Texas Food & Wine Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering awareness and innovation in the Central Texas food and wine community through grants, educational programming and events. To date, Austin Food & Wine Festival has contributed over $1.3 million to the alliance.

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hottest headlines of 2024

Austin's 10 hottest restaurant stories of 2024 serve up BBQ and Tex-Mex

Mum Foods Smokehouse And Delicatessen pastrami sandwich

Mum Foods Smokehouse And Delicatessen/Instagram

Mum Foods Smokehouse And Delicatessen made USA Today's national list.

Editor's note: As 2024 comes to a close, we're looking back at the stories that defined Austin this year, and that includes our delicious, if ever-changing, restaurant scene. This year, Austinites devoured news about unique barbecue joints, classic Tex-Mex chains, a meme-y brewery, and an award-winning Hill Country winery. Here are Austin's top 10 restaurant stories of 2024.

1. Unique Austin barbecue joint makes USA Today's first 'Restaurants of the Year' list. Mum Foods Smokehouse and Delicatessen was the only Texas restaurant on the list.

2. Hill Country winery makes prestigious World's Best Vineyards list for 2024. Out of the more than 100 wineries in the Hill Country, William Chris Vineyards was the only one to make the list.

3. Austin's favorite taco chain takes top honors on USA Today 10-best list. Austin-born Torchy's once again found itself on this list of the best fast casual restaurants in the U.S.

4. Austin's beloved Tex-Mex chain Chuy's gets acquired by a new owner. The chain has been acquired by Darden Restaurants, Inc., the Florida-based hospitality company that also owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, and more.

5. 13 Austin coffee shops join in on action day honoring Daniel Johnston. In January, locals gathered for "Hi, How Are You Day" — to honor Johnston's lasting legacy and build community.

6. Beautiful West Coast sushi restaurant rolls into downtown Austin. Sushi Roku, an alluring newcomer from California, stepped onto the less coastal scene by opening its first Texas restaurant in the Capital City.

Sushi Roku Austin interior By now, most Austin diners know what to expect from an upscale sushi restaurant. Sushi Roku combines "Western influences with internationally inspired accents." Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of IDG

7. Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant in South Austin closes after 35 years. Hao-Hao Restaurant on William Cannon is now closed. Austin foodies can still visit the Round Rock spot with the same name, but the restaurants' lineages are only distantly connected now.

8. New Braunfels sausage and beer extravaganza Wurstfest returns for 2024. Austinites love any excuse to get out to the Hill Country, especially if it involves German brews, fried food and sausage, and lederhosen.

9. Brewery named after famous character Old Gregg debuts in Austin suburb. You ever drunk Bailey's from a shoe? Well, now you can order it on the menu at Pflugerville's newest brewery. But the real focus is the signature beers, plus house-made hard seltzers, cocktails, and a rotating menu for frozen drinks.

10. Both Austin finalists win H-E-B competition to sell products statewide. Birria Queen won the grand prize in the Quest for Texas Best, earning $25,000 for its birria seasoning bombs; and Certified Country Lemonade won second place and $15,000 for its frozen iced teas and lemonades.