For months, a great deal of hype and anticipation surrounded this weekend’s Austin Food & Wine Festival, and yet even before the festival commenced, extensive criticism began plaguing it. Many critics from around Texas and Austin bemoaned the rather pricey tickets: $850 is a pretty penny to have to pay for a VIP ticket, even if you are tasting the cuisine from figures like Masaharu Morimoto, Marcus Samuelsson, and Austin’s own Paul Qui while sipping back glasses upon glasses of bold reds and subtle whites. And, sure, you could pay $250 for a Weekender Pass, but would that $600 difference drastically change the experience? (Spoiler alert: It did)

Many Texans were attached to the less-high-brow, less-Austin-friendly Texas Hill Country Food & Wine Festival. And no Texan likes when East-Coast outsiders come into their state and tell them how to run things, so to have a name like Food & Wine behind the whole event really sent some Texans over the edge.

In the end, the festival’s star-studded chef lineup, gourmet tastings, and provoking panels provided good to great satisfaction and entertainment for the commencement year. And, the food and wine – oh God, the food and wine – was amazing. Each of the chefs brought forth their signature performances, personalities, and tastings; massive props to them for their delivery and charisma. Yet in truth, there is improvement needed before next year.

No better kickoff could have been planned than Tim Love’s large grilling demo. With 200 fired-up grills, juicy skirt steaks, thick New York strips, and crisp broccolini, the chef communicated his extensive grilling knowledge with a welcome helping of crude and risqué humor. The chef was like a culinary tour guide leading clueless, curious diners through flaming coals. Morimoto’s demo was laced and his notable charm, culinary smarts, and calm nature. Although there was significant timing overlap in the demos, if you were able to inch your way into the cooking tents, you probably had a darn good time Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday’s awkward two-hour gap between events was the most noticeable flaw of the weekend. Attendees simply slept on concrete bricks to sleep off food comas, sheltered themselves from the sun under under bare tree limbs, stalked celebrity chefs around the park, or starred into the dusty abyss. Word of advice for next year: never give your attendees an excuse to leave your festival – ever. If you absolutely have to make them wait, you need to make it more comfortable. The lack of tents, fans, and seating made it difficult to want to stay and sweat it out. It was also a little saddening to see the condition of Auditorium Shores. Mother Nature did a number on the land over the past year, so much so that when a light breeze blew, a stormy dust bowl was created. You can’t blame C3 and the festival for that, though. God knows Texas weather is unforgiving.

Saturday night’s Rock Your Taco Showdown was clearly planned well, but executed a little haphazardly. Sure, the idea of tasting some of the nation’s best chef’s tacos is tempting, but is it really worth it to stand in long line for 20 to 25 minutes for each small tasting? No…. If you’re going to pay $850, you better not have to wait. And yes, not even for Tyson Cole’s award-winning crispy pork jowl taco. I’m that serious.

Photo taken by Nick Simonite

Last but not least, the mosh pits of people tying to get to book signings, cooking demos, food tastings, community bathrooms, and the one and only entrance was a little absurd. This all goes back to the issue of comfort; if you’re going to make your guests dish out the big bucks, you better deliver.

I believe in the potential of this festival. Austin is a city that is growing in national culinary relevance, and with more tweaking and better planning, I believe this festival can be on par with the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. The Austin Food & Wine Festival’s libations and eatings were glorious, but if they are going to make the festival worth the ticket prices next year, they better bring all the charms, bells, and whistles and nothing less.

Tagged: austin, Austin Food & Wine Festival, Layne Lynch, Texas Hill Country Food and Wine Festival

After 26 years of showcasing the Texas Hill Country as one of the most desirable destinations in the Lone Star state, the Texas famed Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival will don a new name, a new home, and new leadership for the next festival in the spring of 2012. The new Austin Food & Wine Festival will now be a part of the nationwide culinary series by acclaimed Food & Wine magazine and will be produced by C3 Presents (of Austin City Limits Music Festival fame) along with Texas culinary juggernauts Tyson Cole (Uchi/Uchiko, Austin), Tim Love (Lonesome Dove Bistro, Fort Worth), and Jesse Herman (La Condesa, Austin).

Recent James Beard award winner Tyson Cole, chef/owner of Uchi and Uchiko has spearheaded the renewed festival concept for the past year. “I’m proud to the lead the way in bringing Austin’s culinary landscape into the national spotlight with the creation of the Austin Food & Wine Festival,” says Cole. “It’s the next step in a city coming into it’s own in the food world, and I’m excited to use this as a vehicle to feature a wide array of talent our city has to offer.”

Most “foodie-philes” are aware of the celebrity-studded Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which draws the likes of high profile chefs as James Beard award-winning José Andrés, Tom Colicchio, Mario Batali, John Besh, and Thomas Keller. This new event will build on the national brand that Food & Wine magazine has bestowed on Aspen but with a decidedly Tex-ified style.

“We really wanted to be a part of creating something that is representative of the changing food scene in Austin as well as the rest of Texas,” says La Condesa owner Jesse Herman who will work with C3 Presents, Cole and Love to leverage local and national contacts to create a well rounded showcase of Texas food and wine culture. “We really want to create a food and wine festival that is on par with the greatness of the ACL Festival and South by Southwest.”

The architects behind the original Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival will now restructure the organization to become a 501c3 nonprofit extension of the Austin Food & Wine Festival that will be the festival’s charitable arm and will receive annual support as a beneficiary to the festival’s success.

“This is a huge endorsement of the many years of work and commitment that has gone into the previous festival and we’re excited to support the new Austin Food & Wine Festival, which will bring Austin’s food and wine community in the national and international spotlight,” says Cathy Cochran-Lewis, President of the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival whose leadership in 2011 brought the festival its most profitable year to date, a coup which will give the new nonprofit arm a firm foundation with which to promote the food and wine culture in Central Texas. “This opportunity aligns with the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival’s original mission to create a platform and awareness of the outstanding chefs, restaurants, artisan producers, wines and spirits that makeup our unique culinary culture.”

The changeover not only marks a significant boon for the city of Austin as a premier culinary and viticultural destination, but for all of Texas. And with an ever increasing number of James Beard Award nominees, Food & Wine magazine Best New Chefs, and chef contestants on national food competition television shows, the event will garner national recognition for the Capital City not only as the Live Music Capital of the World, but as a culinary force to be reckoned with.

The official announcement of the new Austin Food & Wine Festival was made today by Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell at an event held at Jesse Herman’s Malverde bar. The 2012 Austin Food & Wine Festival is scheduled for March 30 – April 1. Stay tuned for details as the event planning unfolds!

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Austin Food and Wine Festival, C3 Presents, Cathy Cochran-Lewis, Jesse Herman, Jessica Dupuy, Texas Hill Country Food and Wine Festival, Tim Love, Tyson Cole