Big Sur Food & Wine 2023 Within Reach

October 3, 2023 – The chef’s comment bounces off the polished stone floor and reaches across the Lord Stanley dining room.

“I live on a cliff in the middle of nowhere,” Nick Balla says. “I like Big Sur a lot.”

Around him swirls a full house brisk with San Francisco epicures, hustling service pouring Hungarian wines and a nine-course tasting menu (not counting the optional caviar). 

The offerings cover a lot of territory, from chili-paste pork belly to gently finished flounder with maitake mushrooms and collard greens. 

Amid the flashier items, former Tartine chef’s blue-collar specialties shine: breads like rye koi sourdough and fried potato bread, fermented treats like dill-brined pickles and chilled mushrooms, spreads like smoked onion-miso butter. 

Balla was drawing inspiration from his Eastern European homeland as part of a month-long “pop-up” with Turntable. The setting felt solidly San Francisco. But much of the conversation, as he visited with longtime followers who packed his pop-up, worked its way to Big Sur.

That’s where flavor pilgrims will find themselves for the 2023 Big Sur Food and Wine, Nov. 2-4. 

And that’s where Balla found himself, in more ways than one, amid COVID. Edible tracked his arc south—along with several other standout tastemakers—with “Chefs of Big Sur: The pandemic brought a new crop of high-caliber chefs to the South Coast’s most fabled restaurants.”

Today BSFW announced the addition of three events for this fall’s slate, with Balla anchoring the most exclusive. Tickets open to the public Friday, but Edible readers who sign up for BSFW’s mailing list can get access now. (Scroll to the bottom of the BSFW landing page to do so.)

In chronological order, event one is Thursday’s (Nov. 2), Lunch with Friends. The private property, atop Pfeiffer Ridge overlooking a sweeping expanse, is a big draw. 

Balla (now at COAST Big Sur and Lady & Larder) will be joined by chefs John Harry (formerly Big Sur Bakery, Sierra Mar) Jessica Yarr (The Grove in Felton) and Ron Mendoza (Ad Astra), with Jacob Burrell (Ninery Winery), with pairings from the winemakers of Rootdown and Beauregard Winerie.

It’s a big flavorscape on a sprawling landscape, with a small number of seats, so interested parties will want to move fast. (Meanwhile, only a few tickets remain to any events; more on alternative ways to attend in a minute.)

Saturday (Nov. 4) highlights one of my favorite styles of wines with the “Cold Climate Vineyards Panel” hosted by Rootdown Wines’ winemaker Mike Lucia at Big Sur Lodge. 

Then there’s a sneak-peak-of-sorts at the much-anticipated Village/Solstice restaurant near Riven Inn with the Sustainable Seafood Dinner. 

Solstice exec chef Timothy Eelman and Oscar Cabezas team up on a “refined light-hearted dining experience” across six courses inspired by the mission of The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust—namely, “to advance the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of Monterey Bay fisheries…[and] public access to healthy, sustainably caught seafood while preserving an integral part of our region’s economy, heritage, and biodiversity.” Todd Mathis of DNS Wines will do the vino. 

While many events are at or near capacity, a number of spaces are reserved for sponsors, who help underwrite an event that directs all of its proceeds to local NGOs like Big Sur Fire, Big Sur Health Center and Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.

Volunteers also earn access to events like the storied Wine & Swine, though I’d contend the bigger reward is adventuring behind the scenes while on, say, logistics duty. 

That’s been a revelation for me over the last few years. It also helped lead to an atypical review of 2022’s BSFW with “Twelve Tasty Takeaways from Big Sur Food & Wine,” including the angelic soft-serve ice cream at Balla’s COAST Big Sur.

Balla’s natural Big Sur ambassador game got me to thinking about the singular reach Big Sur has across people and planet.

Legion legends—from Joan Baez to the Red Hot Chili Peppers—take pains to perform here. 

Authors with intercontinental amplitude like Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac drew inspiration here. 

Ideas that have changed the world were seeded here. 

That applies in a way with BSFW. 

One pair of participants from Florida caught wind of the event in its infancy and now come annually, while sending gifts of thanks to the team, inviting their friends and forbidding their adult children from impeding on their “special time.” 

“They attended once for the experience as foodies and realized they had been accepted into a family,” says CFO Elsa Rivera. “They’re some of the most joyfully anticipated guests of the festival.”

That pair’s voyage represents a short one compared to the guests who travel from Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain. 

Traveling from far away makes symmetrical—or at least poetic—sense for events that are way out there. Take the Magical Mystery Tour, an uncanny combination of rare food and drink and rarer access to insane properties.

“The context for so many of our events is rich with history and story,” Rivera says, “The remote living of some of these private home owners—who become our friends and open their doors for us because they know we’re good stewards and supporters of Big Sur—adds to that.”

While Big Sur might transcend horizons, festival vice president/wine director Matt Peterson is among those who believe the gravity of BSFW derives from staying close to home and heart. 

“We’re in a lucky place that we have so many return guests who are so enthusiastic about our vibe and Big Sur, we don’t spend a lot of time concerning ourselves with a wider swath of outreach, and there isn’t much more expansion planned,” he says. “We’re still a rootsie operation.”

More at bsfw.org.