Tickets on sale for Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2020

February 20, 2020 – There are as many ways to enjoy Pebble Beach Food & Wine as there are chefs who give the festival much of its appeal and overall oomph. For the record, that’s 120 all told in 2020, and 1,575 all-time.

PBFW culinary event manager Dorothy Maras works closely with them to make sure they have everything they need. One year that was 200 pounds of chicken livers for a single chef because he miscalculated how much he would plate. After more than a decade of PBFW, Maras figures she’s amassed enough great stories for two books, but knows it’s not about her cache of adventures.

“I would like to think we have created long-lasting memories for our chefs and approximately 110,000 attendees as well,” she says.

While sourcing and distributing 8 tons of gourmet grub ain’t easy, it’s only part of what’s on the plate for Team PBFW. One particularly hefty challenge is keeping the festival fresh year in and year out. Year 2020 marks PBFW’s 13th installment and takes place from April 16-19.

Maras says it demands the input of the entire team, and a hunger to track trends across the country by reading, researching and visiting what she calls “hot spots and the ‘in-chefs,’” whether obvious or obscure.

“Staying on the leading edge of trends—and actually setting trends—in an industry that changes as quickly as the weather is no minor task,” she says.

This year’s chef roster has just been announced and tickets are on sale via the Pebble Beach Food & Wine website, which also stocks information on all the packages, grand tastings and panel possibilities. There are pre-sale discounts for MasterCard holders and sales to the general public begin on Feb. 28.

Headliners include chef Andrew Zimmern, who will appear at three events, and Jeremiah Tower, who hosts a Rooted in California luncheon and makes a rare appearance at the Lexus Sunday Grand Tasting. 

Zimmern is a four time James Beard award-winning television personality who has reported on the cuisine of 170 different countries as host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods. He currently helms a mini-series on MSNBC called What’s Eating America, which offers a deep dive into problems in the food system, such as labor, immigration and climate change. Tower—considered the father of California Cuisine—was executive chef at Chez Panisse and owner of the legendary Stars in San Francisco.

Celebrated Chef Nancy Silverton of LA’s Mozza Group also makes a trip to Del Monte Forest, as do Chicago award-winners Grant Achatz (of Alinea, whose whole restaurant family anchors a blowout two-night barbecue) and Stephanie Izard (Girl & the Goat and Little Goat).

For the first time at PBFW, three of the hottest Indian chefs in the United States will anchor a Spice Trail Power Lunch.

PBFW co-founder David Bernahl doesn’t dismiss the amount of work that goes into the programming, but also delights in its organic evolution.

“It’s a lot when you think about 100-plus chefs for 12 years,” he says, “but it’s an event that continues to grow up on its own. It’s not necessarily the direction we push it, it’s the way the industry grows and evolves. It’s neat to see more players in the food-and-wine world coming back in bigger and bigger roles.”  

While national names draw the longest lines at the expansive grand tastings that cover somewhere around 75,000 square feet and include 300-plus wineries, local stars enjoy a strong presence. Among the visionary types with local restaurants who are assembling this year: Peter Armellino (The Plumed Horse), Michelle Estigoy (Cultura), Emanuele Bartolini (la Balena), Aaron Rayor (Rise+Roam), Danny Leach (Folktale Winery), Angela Tamura (Pèppoli), Matt Beaudin (Monterey Bay Aquarium), Jerry Regester (Schooner’s Coastal Kitchen), Cal Stamenov (Lucia Restaurant at Bernardus Lodge), Matt Bolton and Michelle Lee (The C Restaurant), Daniel Elinan (TusCA), Eddie Moran (Cantinetta Luca) and Paul Corsentino (Saltwood Kitchen).

“When they come to PBFW they bring their A+ game to the table in a big way,” Mara says. “We are so incredibly proud of our ‘home team’ and we hope that they know how valuable their added talents have been to PBFW over the years.”

Meanwhile, those who like to earn their calories have the ever popular Celebrity Chef & Winemaker Golf Tournament 8am Thursday and—new this year—a gran fondo bike ride, in partnership with the California Avocado Commission, to benefit a range of chef charities. Hawks Provisions and Public House Executive Chef/Co-Owner Mike Fagnoni will deliver the avocado-loaded “fuel-up” breakfast and “finish line feast.” 

But it’s not called Pebble Beach Food & Bikes. The wine slate is as inspired (overwhelming?) as ever, with eye-catchers like “Trimbach: Four Centuries, One Family”; “The World of Barons de Rothschild”; “Coming Home with The Godfather Fred Dame”; a 20th anniversary celebration of Pisoni Wines; “The Adventurous Journey of Argentinian Wines” lunch; and “Grand Cru Champions of Chassagne.”

Not to mention those 300 wineries attending the grand tastings.

“Every year we move the wine needle up a little bit, that’s our goal,” Bernahl says. “So it starts to sound a little redundant, but it’s our best year yet.”

One note that’s always top of mind for Edible Monterey Bay, given the steep sticker price for many events: Volunteers are perpetually in demand to help staff various engagements in exchange for access to others. Interested parties can visit pbfw.com/forms/volunteer/.

As preparations ramp up and a blinding windstorm of activity gathers, Maras has a clear view of what a successful year looks like.

“At the end of each day, when we can look around the faces of our guests and guest chefs and see them smiling, nodding at one another and hopefully saying, ‘That was really a great experience we wouldn’t have had anywhere else,’ we have done our job,” she says. “It is a very gratifying feeling to have made 10,000 people happy in four days’ time doing what we love and what we are so passionate about.

“It is a wild ride every year.”

More at pbfw.com.