Natchez Food and Wine Festival Set to Sizzle

The 12th Annual Natchez Food and Wine Festival will be held July 27

– 29, 2012, at various venues in Natchez, Mississippi. Events begin

Friday night with Tastings Along the River at the Natchez Convention

Center and end with a Jazz Brunch at the Carriage House at Stanton

Hall on Sunday morning. There will be plenty of great food, drink

and music all weekend.

Celebrity chefs will be preparing delectable samplings of their

signature dishes at Tasting Along the River, and there will surely

be something to satisfy every taste bud. Vintners from across the

country will be offering wine samples so event goers can pair them

with various types of cuisine. Micro and garage brewed beers will

be available to sample as well. The restaurants whose chef’s are

participating are The Royal Sonesta and Sylvain of New Orleans,

Underground 119 and Parlor Market of Jackson, Fat Cow and Jubans

of Baton Rouge and Natchez restaurants Roux 61, Pig Out Inn, Manor

House, Vue, Monmouth, Slick Rick’s, Planet Thai, Pearl Street Pasta

and The Castle, all of which is sponsored by the Louisiana Seafood

Marketing Board. Wine and Beer samplings will be offered by E &

J Gallo, Glazer, Tonore, Tin Roof, NOLA, Lazy Magnolia and others.

Live music during the opening and closing segments of the event will

be performed by the jazzy duet of Osgood and Blaque.

Start your Saturday morning with Biscuits, Beignets and Breakfast

at Natchez Coffee Company which is being sponsored by At Home

Tennessee magazine, who will be showcasing their Natchez and

Memphis connection. On Saturday afternoon, E & J Gallo Wines will

be pairing their wines with cheeses from Richard Sutton of St. James

Cheese of New Orleans, at The Castle on the grounds of historic

Dunleith. Saturday afternoon at Bowie’s Tavern you can enjoy a

delicious hamburger and a beer from one of several micro breweries

while listening to blues of Kevin Johnson from Burgers, Brews and

Blues.

Saturday evening, The Chef’s Table segment offers dining in the

enchanting settings of five antebellum homes of Natchez; Monmouth,

D’Evereux, and Briarvue on the grounds of the historic home, The

Briars.

The Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board will sponsor a

seafood dinner prepared by Chef Cory Bahr of Cotton, Chef Kevin

Templet of Fremin’s and Chef Kelly McCann of Galatoire’s at

Monmouth, while Chef Todd Pulsinelli of the WWII Museum and

Chef Chuck Subra of the J.W. Marriot Hotel in New Orleans will

join with Chef Jaime Hernandez of Juban’s in Baton Rouge to treat

guests to an evening of elegant dining at D’Evereux. At Briarvue,

Jackson Chefs David Ferris of Babalu, Alex Eaton of Table 100,

Derek Emerson of Walker’s Drive-In and Chef Jackson Kramer of

Interim in Memphis, will be offering their culinary specialties. The

Carriage House at Stanton Hall is home to Chef Bingo Starr and he

will be creating fabulous cuisine alongside a line-up of all-star chefs

Nicholas Martin of A Mano, Doug Depp of Depp’s Bull Corner, Red

Owens of Natchez and Kim Kringle of Dakota. Menus for the meals to

be served at each house can be found on the festival website.

On Sunday morning there will be two seatings for brunch at the

Carriage House.

star team to prepare brunch to be enjoyed as Osgood and Blaque

entertain patrons with Jazz and a few other old standards.

To purchase tickets or find more information on this highly coveted,

popular Natchez event, go to www.natchezfoodandwinefest.com or

call 601-442-4895.

Again, Chef Bingo Starr will assemble an all-