Advertisement
Advertisement

San Diego hosts inaugural Latin Food Fest

Four-day event downtown to feature some of the world’s best chefs

Share

It has passion, it has flavor, and it has sass. You could say it’s downright sexy. Latin cuisine is super hot in the culinary world these days, and we’re not just talking about the chiles that give heat to so many of the dishes.

Here in San Diego, we tend to think of Latin food as “Mexican.” The Latin world, however, is a big one, and the food of Spain is very different from the food of Peru, while Puerto Rican cuisine differs markedly from Argentine.

To showcase the full diversity of flavors from Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, the inaugural Latin Food Fest kicks off in San Diego thursday and continues through Sunday.

Latin Food Fest

When: Thursday through Sunday. Thursday: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday: 10:30 a.m. to midnight. Saturday: 11 a.m. to close. Sunday: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Most events take place at the San Diego Wine & Culinary Event Center, 200 Harbor Drive, or Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, 1000 N. Harbor Drive.

Tickets: Individual events $49-$130. Grand Tasting $55-$99. Specially priced combination passes available.

Phone: (858) 461-1970

Online: latinfoodfest.com

More than 6,000 are expected to attend the event, which will feature everything from seminars and cooking demonstrations to dinners prepared by celebrity chefs from throughout the Latin world.

The signature event of the festival will be a Grand Tasting on Saturday, with more than 100 restaurants, chefs and purveyors of food, wine, spirits and beer providing cooking demos, tastings and book signings.

“We chose to host the inaugural Latin Food Fest in San Diego versus L.A., Miami or New York because consumers’ palates here have matured in such a significant way, with an explosion of new restaurants and food events,” said Richie Matthews, president of Diálogo, the festival producer. “San Diego is ready to taste the entire Latin world.”

Headlining the festival will be such notable cooking talents as:

• Aaron Sanchez, chef, restaurateur and star of several Food Network shows (“Heat Seekers,” “Chopped” and “Next Iron Chef”).

• Daisy Martinez, cookbook author and star of “Daisy Cooks” and “Viva Daisy.”

• Cooking Channel and Univision personality Ingrid Hoffman.

San Diego- and Baja-based festival luminaries include Javier Plascencia, Miguel Angel Guerrero, Chad White, Martin San Roman, Flor Franco, Isabel Cruz, Drew Deckman, Sara Polczynski and many more.

Attendees can indulge their hunger for Latin delicacies at two special dinners prepared by internationally known chefs:

• “Flavors of the Americas” will feature a six-course extravaganza by Sanchez, Plascencia and White. The event will benefit the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank’s Childhood Hunger Initiative.

• For the “Friends of James Beard” event, White will join Guerrero and Pablo Salas for a six-course tasting menu with wine and cocktail pairings. The event will benefit the James Beard Scholarship Foundation and the Culinary Art School in Tijuana.

Why is someone like Martinez excited to come to San Diego for a Latin food festival?

“It seems that I’ve been waving the banner for Latin food forever,” she said. “And really, I’m thrilled to cook alongside Aaron Sanchez and all the other amazing chefs and to share all the tastes of the pan-Latin world.”

For Miguel Angel Guerrero, it’s personal: “We are in a historical moment to set the basis for the cuisine of Baja California. I feel honored to be part of this movement of the Baja Med cuisine that I created seven years ago.”

His fellow Baja Med purveyor, Javier Plascencia, said: “This festival is a great way to reach out to our Latino community, especially those who don’t cross the border, to show off the food movement in Tijuana, Ensenada and the Valle de Guadalupe. People can have personal contact with the chefs, sample the food and wine, and see why it’s worth a trip across the border to experience more.”

Advertisement