James Beard Foundation’s “Taste America” Is Headed For Philly

Okay, so yeah–this is a very early warning, but I think you’ll understand why in a minute.

On October 4 and 5, the James Beard Foundation‘s traveling road show, Taste America, will be hitting Philly. They’re calling this stop “The Philadelphia Food Evolution” and, in terms of getting up close and personal with some of the best and brightest chefs in the city, you’re probably not going to have a better chance. I mean, check out the set-up:

“Have you tried Chef George Sabatino‘s menu at Morgan’s Pier? Did you ever consider going to Will to taste the dishes of Chef Chris Kearse? How about Joe Cicala of Le Virtu? In addition to some great food, the event will feature a live and a silent auction. The cost of a ticket is $200. Chef David Katz of Creekstone Farms put together the line-up.”

There’ll be twenty rising star chefs on the floor bringing their A-game, all doing their best to outshine the guy next to them. And that’s really just the beginning…

If you’re willing to shell out $500 per ticket for the VIP bash, you’ll get to hang out with past local James Beard Award winners Georges Perrier, Judy Wicks, Jean-Marie Lacroix, Susanna Foo, and Steve Poses. Then there’ll be a four-course dinner, organized by Patrick Feury, with each course prepared by a protege of one of the chefs. So Pierre Calmels of Bibou will be doing a course in the name of Georges Perrier, Ann Coll of Meritage will be coming up with a course inspired by her time with Susanna Foo, Matt Ridgway will be cooking for Jean-Marie Lacroix, et cetera. And then dessert will be provided by All-Star Celebrity Chef Carla Hall of ABC’s The Chew.

So, you can hang out with the up-and-comers for $200 a head, or lay down the big bucks and have dinner with the masters. Either way, it looks like it’s going to be a helluva night. And as you can probably guess, tickets for the event are likely to go pretty fast.

So if you’re down, tickets are on sale right now for the Philadelphia event. You can get all the schedules, times and details you need by checking out the link below.

James Beard Foundation “Taste America” [Official]