Texas culinary industry leaders can experience Spain’s finest through cutting-edge panels, exclusive tastings, and more during Spain Fusion. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
Culinary and hospitality professionals are invited to attend Spain Fusion 2024, the immersive food & wine experience hosted by Vocento – the team at the helm of Spain’s renowned Madrid Fusion. The FREE event features an educational experience for the senses, offering guests a day of exclusive panels, tastings, and meetings with Spain’s premier exporters of wine, seafood, preserves, Iberian ham, olive oil, jam, cheese, and more. This year’s edition will take place on Friday, October 18 from 11:30a.m. to 10p.m. at Pearl in San Antonio. (Pearl, 2024)
Spain Fusion introduces fresh additions to this year’s lineup, including a panel on Spanish creams and gazpachos as well as a new presentation on top-caliber tuna and sea bass sourced from Spain to be led by returning speaker Chef Danny Lledó, from Washington D.C.’s Michelin-starred restaurant Xiquet. Select featured vendors at the day event are not yet distributed in Texas, so attendees will be the first to taste these premium goods.
The event returns with both Daytime programming and Night Out festivities. From 11:30a.m. to 6p.m., guests are able to partake in educational sessions about Spanish food & wine with tastings and more. From 7p.m. to 10p.m., guests can network and enjoy tasting demonstrations, passed bites and beverages outdoors at the historic Pearl.
Participants are welcome to attend the come-and-go formats at their convenience for both day and evening events.
This event is intended for food, beverage and hospitality professionals as well as distributors. However, there will be a limited number of spots available to the general public on a first come, first serve basis. All guests must RSVP HERE for entry. Once spots are filled the link will close. This event is 21 and up only.
WHEN: Friday, October 18 from 11:30a.m. – 10p.m. *Spain Fusion Daytime: 11:30a.m. – 6p.m. *Spain Fusion Night Out: 7p.m. – 10p.m.
Spain Fusion Daytime: Hotel Emma at Pearl 136 E Grayson St San Antonio, TX 78215
Spain Fusion Night Out: Pearl Park under Cellar’s Pavilion by the Food Hall 312 Pearl Pkwy San Antonio, TX 78215
Ole, San Antonio: When San Antonio Meets Spain will celebrate the city’s anniversary this summer. Photo: Pearl, used with permission.
To celebrate San Antonio’s Tricentennial and its Spanish heritage, Pearl announces Olé, San Antonio: When San Antonio Meets Spain. This summer-long celebration will take place from Friday June 15 to Sunday September 16 to commemorate the city’s 300th anniversary. There will be events and activities related to four main pillars: gastronomy, music and dance, arts and architecture. Events will include new programming while also incorporating existing Pearl activities. (Pearl, 2018)
Scheduled events will have a common thread: an intercambio, an exchange and collaboration between the cultures of Spain and San Antonio, creating experiences and memories completely unique to Olé. Restaurants at the Pearl will feature Spanish menus and chef collaboration dinners, retailers will feature specially curated Spanish items, and there will be a variety of activities at the Pearl Park.
The official opening day is Thursday June 21 with a Dia Mundial de la Tapa (International Day of the Tapa) tasting at Pearl Stable, a flamenco performance in Pearl Park by Pure Flamenco Primitivo Family Dance Company and a celebration of Spanish cuisine and cooking techniques at the Culinary Institute of America campus at Pearl.
Gastronomy:
Pearl will have a total Spanish take-over of the restaurants onsite as they host Tapas Tuesdays, Gin Tonic Thursdays, Spanish wine selections and more. Collaboration dinners will include Spanish chefs paired with Pearl chefs. The Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio (CIA) will host Spanish master classes for students and food enthusiasts that will center around popular Spanish cuisine like tapas, paella and Spanish wines. Hotel Emma will present several culinary concierge-driven Spanish demos and immersive tastings as well as classes around the six essential Spanish food categories: olive oil, wine, cheese, jamón (ham), salts/spices and conservas (tinned fish). Supper, Larder and Sternewirth will incorporate Spanish-influenced items, such as flamenquines, saffrón and Spanish sea salts, jamóns, tapas, sangrias and gin tonics. Hotel Emma will also host several Spanish dinners at Supper featuring chefs from Spain and regional Spanish chefs.
Music and dance:
Spanish music and dance will come to life at Pearl with intercambio performances that will range from flamenco to jazz to DJs to mariachi. World-renowned flamenco dancer Carlos Rodriguez will present a special performance at Pearl Park. Spanish DJs will collaborate in their performances with South Texan counterparts and there will be an evening of zarzuela with Casa de España en San Antonio. Spanish artist Concha Buika is scheduled to perform at Pearl Park in August. She is a Grammy nominated artist and voted one of the world’s “50 Great Voices” by NPR whose music includes flamenco, Latin, jazz and R&B.
Arts and architecture:
Ana Juan, an artist, illustrator, painter and winner of the 2010 Spanish National Illustration prize, will be creating a limited-edition serigraph honoring the city’s long history printed by master serigrapher Manolo Gurillo. The Olé Galería (gallery) will feature exhibitions of contemporary Spanish graphic artists and works from visiting Spanish photographers Beatrix Mexi Molnar and Andres Marin. Olé will also be collaborating with the San Antonio Museum of Art on its exhibition Spain: 500 Years of Spanish Painting from the Museums of Madrid.
Finally, the closing day is scheduled for Sunday September 16 and the day’s events will feature an intercambio dinner with Spanish chefs working with Pearl chefs, a mariachi-flamenco performance with Spanish guitarist Luis Gallo performing with local San Antonio artists as part of Mariachi Lab and a Cabezudos (big heads) parade representing key figures in the city’s history. A short film, the product of a collaboration between visiting Spanish and San Antonio-based artists, will premiere at the event.
“Our intention with creating Olé was to acknowledge our 300 years of history with Spain and to create a truly monumental celebration that people will cherish and remember for the rest of their lives..” – Elizabeth Fauerso, Pearl chief marketing officer
SA Examiner 