Feastival Is Coming: Chef Auction Announced

So you’re a fan of Top Chef. You’ve got a lifetime subscription to Saveur, Bon Apetit and Gastronomica. In the back of your mind, you’ve always thought, “Hey, you know what would be cool? Having a whole bunch of famous chefs hanging out in my house and cooking me dinner!”

Well, now you might have the chance since the folks behind this year’s FEASTIVAL have announced their official lineup of live auction chefs.

This year’s high bidder will get Daniel Stern (R2L, MidAtlantic), Georges Perrier (Le Bec Fin), Jeff Michaud (Osteria), Michael Solomonov (Zahav, Percy Street BBQ), Michael Schulson (Sampan), Terence Feury (Fork) and one of the sommeliers from Vetri, all coming to their house to cook one king-hell 6-course dinner. Last year’s 5-course, 5-chef auction topped out somewhere around 20 grand and this one will likely go for more (because 6 is more than 5, duh), so really, this is a game for the rich. But still, as Ferris Bueller says, “If you have the means…”

But say you don’t have twenty large just laying around the house. Well, have no fear. There’s still plenty of FEASTIVAL action for those of more modest means.

The second-annual FEASTIVAL will allow you to congregate with the Olympians of Philly’s food and culture scenes. The whole thing is co-hosted by city big-wigs Stephen Starr, Michael Solomonov and Audrey Claire Taichman, so that’s a good start. And it brings together 76 Philly restaurants and bars (like Le Bec-Fin, Zahav, Morimoto, Lacroix, 10 Arts, PYT, Talula’s Garden and Fish)–crowding them all together onto the boards at Pier 9.

Hosted amid (and to benefit) the two-week-long Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festivals, FEASTIVAL will honor former mayor and Governor Ed Rendell. So if you have any issues with the governor’s talk about the Eagles, or you want to talk Phillies closers, here’s your chance.

Last year’s event saw ambient art, gallery exhibitions, dancers, artists, singers, and acrobats hanging from tubes on the ceiling. There was a New Orleans-style big band to create an atmosphere. This year, Cirque du Soleil-type performances by Montreal’s Les 7 Doigts (the seven fingers) de la Main will bring more acrobatics to Pier 9, while guests wander the long, narrow pier eating themselves goofy. And word is, Philly hip-hop guru (and rising late night television icon), Roots drummer ?uestlove, may be in attendance. His company, ?uest Loves Food, is one of the many cooking that evening.

Tickets ($250/ VIP $350) are on sale now. The event kicks off at 6pm, Wednesday, September 14 at Pier 9. And according to Taichman, while there are still tickets available now, that doesn’t mean there will still be tickets available then. “Last year, they started to sell out 2 or 3 weeks before the event,” she said. “And the night before, everyone was coming up to me and asking if they could get tickets, and I had to say no.”

2 or 3 weeks before means right now, folks. So if you’re interested, you can find score your tickets right here.

FEASTIVAL [Official website]