The James Beard Culinary Tour Is Coming to Philly Again This Year

Philly is officially a regular on the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America culinary tour.

The traveling dinner series is coming to Philly for the third year in a row from October 30 to November 1, as part of a 20-city tour that also includes stops in New York, Louisville, Portland, and San Francisco.

The tour’s weekend-long visit to Philly will open on Wednesday, October 30 with a cocktail party called Raising the Bar — with a focus on food sustainability — featuring food and drinks from local talent like Michael Strauss (Mike’s BBQ) and Caroline Hough (Porta). On Friday, November 1, the tour will host a benefit gala at Filter Club, featuring food by the Taste America Visiting All-star chef Michelle Bernstein, from Miami, and local All-Star chef Michael Solomonov (of Center City’s award-winning Zahav). To top off the weekend, the tour will host a culinary lab designed to highlight some of the James Beard Foundation’s sustainability efforts.

Photos: Bill Addison

Tickets for the cocktail party are $75 a piece, while tickets to the gala range from $350 to $650 per person (so if you’re interested, get saving). Proceeds from the weekend go to the Foundation’s Good Food for Good and Food Recovery Network programs, which work toward fighting food waste a developing a more equitable, environmentally sustainable food system.

The Taste America tour first stopped in Philadelphia in 2013, before taking a brief hiatus from the city. 2019 now marks the third year in a row that the tour has come through Philly, after Solomonov’s Zahav won the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurant this year.

• Zahav Is the Best Restaurant in the Country at the 2019 James Beard Awards
• This James Beard Dinner in Philly Has an All-Star Chef Lineup