Tag: Culinaria Food and Wine Festival

20th Annual Culinaria Wine + Food Festival

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This year’s Culinaria will take place September 26 – 29 at La Cantera Resort & Spa.  Photo: Culinaria, used with permission. 

Culinaria is celebrating two decades of wine, food, spirits and fellowship during this year’s Culinaria Wine + Food Festival. Raise your glasses and get ready to say “Cheers to Twenty Years” during the 20th annual Culinaria Wine + Food Festival, this September 26-29, as organizers serve up some of the greatest hits from the last two decades while also preparing exciting twists on some past favorites. After being held in the spring for years, Culinaria Festival is returning to its roots by moving back to September, not far from the date when the first Culinaria launched nearly two decades ago. (Culinaria Wine + Food Festival, 2019)

La Cantera Resort & Spa will host the Culinaria Festival as it has for the past four years. More than 10,000 people are expected to take part in everything from Bubbles, a celebration of champagne, sparkling wine and cocktails at Topaz, the resort’s adult pool, that also boasts the most breathtaking sunsets in San Antonio, to the Festival’s most popular smoky finale of Burgers, BBQ and Beer.

The 20th Culinaria Festival will introduce a twist on the ever-festive Best of Mexico event with Arte Agave, an art and tequila extravaganza on Friday, September 27. Guests will be able to enjoy tequila and mezcal infused with Mexican art, with the musical backdrop provided by Selena tribute band Bidi Bidi Bom Bom. Culinaria Festival, organizers are bringing back the Masquerade component of the Grand Tasting on Saturday, September 28. Don your finest masks and come prepared to be dazzled by mysteries and surprises galore. Returning to Culinaria Festival after a five-year hiatus is the Hole in Wine Golf Tournament, teeing off on Saturday, September 28 at the La Cantera Resort Course.

“La Cantera Resort is proud to host Culinaria’s annual celebration of wine and food. We applaud its ongoing commitment to promoting San Antonio as a major culinary destination, highlighting San Antonio’s unique confluence of flavors and culture.” – Michelle Robertson, director of marketing and PR for La Cantera Resort & Spa.

Culinaria was created to highlight San Antonio’s passion for food and to spotlight the city as a premier food and wine destination. In the beginning, it was just a weekend of food and wine on the Riverwalk. Now it has expanded to include events as diverse a food competition and a barbeque extravaganza.

La Cantera Resort & Spa
16641 La Cantera Pkwy
San Antonio, TX 78256
(210) 558-6500

Texas Taco Showdown new addition to Culinaria

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The Texas Taco Showdown is a new addition to the popular Culinaria Wine + Food Festival coming up next week at La Cantera Resort & Spa.  Photo: Culinaria, used with permission.

The Culinaria Wine + Food Festival is coming up next week from Thursday May 17 through Sunday May 20 and among the new additions to the festival this year is the Texas Taco Showdown. Also new to the festival are pop-up restaurants and the opportunity for guests to mix and mingle with up-and-coming chefs. (Culinaria, 2018)

The Texas Taco Showdown will take place on Saturday May 19 when thirty chefs from across the Lone Star State will descend on La Cantera Resort & Spa in the heart of the Texas Hill Country to take part of this exciting new competition. On the line are bragging rights and the chance to take home the title of taco champion. The Texas Taco Showdown is set for 12 noon to 5p.m. and will be divided into three categories: Modern, Classic and the ever-popular Breakfast Tacos. A panel of ten celebrity judges featuring chefs, media personalities and foodies will make the final determination about who earns the Top Taco titles.

The Texas Taco Showdown is just one of many new activities that Culinaria has planned for this year.  For example, guests will be able to mingle with up-and-coming chefs working alongside executive chefs from the city’s top restaurants on Friday night at the Texas Grand Tasting.

Restaurants currently signed up to participate in the pop-up restaurants are Grayze on Grayson Street, La Cantera Resort & Spa, Baklovah Bakery and Pasha Mediterranean Grill. Pasha will offer a Hookah lounge, a pop-up bakery featuring baklava and a food truck.

Culinary education remains a major part of the festival and will feature cooking and wine demonstrations.  The Lone Star State’s most delicious resource –Gulf Coast shrimp – will be featured at a station sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture.  Guests will be able to quench their thirst at the Wine Garden, the Beer Lounge or at the Yes Way Rosé Lounge.

The Burgers, BBQ & Beer event returns on Sunday when Chefs will set up grill stations for a backyard barbecue like no other. Expect exotic burger offerings featuring wild game alongside sumptuous beefy favorites as chefs go bun-to-bun to earn the top burger title. New this year is a fry station for French fries and onion rings for burger pairings.  Guests will also can enjoy the Culinary District happening in and around Burgers, BBQ & Beer.  This will provide festival-goers with ample opportunity to have access to tasty seminars, demos, wine, cocktails and shopping at the Culinary District with pop up restaurants, a variety of experiential hospitality and more; culminating to make Burgers, BBQ & Beer a Texas-sized experience of astonishing culinary and beverage proportions.

Culinaria was created to highlight San Antonio’s passion for food and to spotlight the city as a premiere food and wine destination. In the beginning, it was just a weekend of food and wine on the Riverwalk. Now it has expanded to include events as diverse a food competition and a barbeque extravaganza.

La Cantera Resort & Spa
16641 La Cantera Pkwy
San Antonio, TX 78256
(210) 558-6500

Tickets to Culinaria Wine + Food Festival now on sale

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Culinaria Wine + Food Festival is coming up in May and early bird tickets are now on sale. Photo: La Cantera Resort & Spa, used with permission.

Culinaria Wine + Food Festival is coming up in May and tickets are now available for purchase. Scheduled for Thursday May 17 through Sunday May 20, Culinaria celebrates the best of food through events featuring gourmet creations paired with elegant wines for extravagant tastings prepared by San Antonio’s best chefs, guest chefs and global and local wineries.  Culinaria was created to highlight San Antonio’s passion for food and to spotlight the city as a premiere food and wine destination. In the beginning, it was just a weekend of food and wine on the Riverwalk. Now it has expanded to include events as diverse a food competition and a barbeque extravaganza. (Culinaria, 2018)

Individual tickets start at $75. Early bird ticket purchases are 25 percent off through April 1. Ticket packages feature special amenities and include:

Rising Star: $275
Single ticket package for one to all events: Bubbles, Texas Grand Tasting, Texas Taco Showdown and Burgers, BBQ & Beer.

Weekend Warrior: $210
One ticket to the Texas Grand Tasting, Texas Taco Showdown and Burgers, BBQ & Beer.

A-Lister: $340
VIP ticket package for one to attend all events with access to VIP areas. Bubbles, Texas Grand Tasting, Texas Taco Showdown; Burgers, BBQ & Beer.

Chop It Like It’s Hot: $125
Ticket Package to include one ticket to the Texas Taco Showdown and Burgers, BBQ & Beer.

La Cantera Resort & Spa, a part of Destination Luxury collection, will host Culinaria Festival and is offering guests special rates during the event using promo code: CULINARIA18. Rates start at $249 for standard rooms, $349 for SEVEN, a 46-room “adults only” guest floor experience and $399 for The Villas.

Scheduled events include:
Bubbles – 7p.m., Thursday, May 17, Topaz at La Cantera Resort & Spa
Becker Luncheon – 11:30 a.m., Friday, May 18, Becker Vineyards
Texas Grand Tasting – 7p.m., Friday, May 18, San Antonio Ballroom at La Cantera Resort & Spa
Texas Taco Showdown – 12p.m. to 6p.m., Saturday, May 19, La Cantera Resort & Spa
Burgers, BBQ & Beer – 12p.m.to 6 p.m., Sunday, May 20, La Cantera Resort & Spa

La Cantera Resort & Spa
16641 La Cantera Pkwy
San Antonio, TX 78256
(210) 558-6500