Pebble Beach Food & Wine Cometh, With Strategic Upgrades

December 17, 2024 – The 2.0 version of Pebble Beach Food & Wine is poised for a legit sophomore leap come April 10-13, 2025. 

Chefs like Alice Waters, Amanda Freitag, Chris Lilly, Nina Compton, Esther Choi, Rodney Scott, Billy Durney and Max Boonthanakit contribute to an uptick on name-check talent—buttressed by returning marquee names like Andrew Zimmern, Nancy Silverton and Jonathan Waxman.

A groundswell of strolling events beyond the opening night reception and the massive Grand Pavilion, which PBFW terms “walk-around tastings,” represent a smart way to up accessibility, sociability and festivity. Those include a Burgers & Barrels Happy Hour, California Coastal Cookout, Peroni Sunset Aperitif and Pit Masters of the Fairway.

Then there’s the bottom line, a 20% price reduction in response to sticker shock last year.

This all comes on the heels of a first installment under new ownership (Pebble Beach Company and Foundation taking over for Coastal Luxury Management) and direction (a21), aka 1.0 of 2.0, that already executed interesting moves.

In the 2024 edition, spirit brands descended en force, Disneyland-esque installations in tow. The Grand Pavilion acreage somehow made the massive Grand Tasting tents of years past seem more modest. Nonprofit partners like the James Beard Foundation, Roots Fund and Rancho Cielo took larger roles.

Meanwhile a subtler change was afoot: Pebble’s banquet team was more engaged, likely a result of PBC being the event owners and not hired help.

The benefit of having last year’s experience under its belt, as a21 founder and CEO Brett Friedman notes, is huge, although Pebble Beach Company collaborated on all previous PBFW iterations and a21 oversees 200+ events internationally.

“It’s the evolution of Pebble,” he says. “The goal for a21, on behalf of the [Pebble Beach] Company and Foundation, is to make it the most prestigious food festival on the West Coast, but also the most prestigious, period. That takes a lot of listening.”

Friedman goes on to emphasize some themes he perpetually prioritizes, including his primary fundamental.

“We’re here to create lasting moments for our audience, to make sure we’re doing something uniquely different, and to have fun,” he says. “It’s a word I harp on. I like the simplicity of it. We’re selling experiences so people have fun, and leave saying, ‘Man, that was awesome.’”

Ensuring chefs—including dozens of standout Monterey Bay chefs like Michelle Lee, Tony Baker, Mario Garcia and Christian Ojeda—feel the fun too ranks among the not-so-secret keys to accomplish that. 

“Some of it is FOMO, some of it is assembling people who have a lot of respect for each other,” he says. “When we curate our lineup we think about the ecosystem of the industry we’re lucky to be stewards for. We’re intentional with who we invite. We want them to want to be there.”

A slow sift through the lineup will get festival goers eager for April. 

Loaded lunches swoop through memorable productions like “A Taste of Kwéyòl: Creole Cuisine and Stories” with Nina Compton and friends, and “Return to Roots Vegetarian Lunch” hosted by Franklin Becker, Iván Castro, Christopher Barnum-Dann, Heena Patel and Jessica Yarr.

Appetite-catching seminars—which Fried believes rival any festival’s slate in the country—tap into action like “Champagne Bollinger’s Unique Vision of Pinot Noir” and “The Last Drop & Buffalo Trace Distillery: Curators of Remarkable Spirits.”

Ambitious dinners conjure collaborations like “A Night of Culinary Excellence” with Alice Waters and Jonathan Waxman, and “Spice, A Night in India” hosted by Maneet Chauhan, Vijay Kumar, & Kiran Verma.

I’m not drooling. You’re drooling.

One of my favorite things about PBFW-style festivals is their interactive nature. This is no spectator sport. Few things are more intimate than experiencing someone else’s creation with senses fully engaged—and chopping it up with that someone as you do.

Casing the 2025 participants has me looking forward to that dynamic with a number of up-and-coming chefs. Lee Frank, in particular caught my attention for his 2024 nomination for James Beard Best Chef Northeast, and photos of the earthy tasting menu at his restaurant Otis in Exeter, New Hampshire.

He hit on a desire to bring a taste of the East Coast—“Being from the Maine/New Hampshire area everyone expects a lobster roll or chowder; we want to show them that it is so much more!”—and the joy of riffing with fellow gastro-geeks.

“The interaction with the chefs and foodies who participate is one of the best parts of PBFW…” he says. “The inspiration and knowledge of the chefs and attendees is contagious, and I love being a part of it—and hope that I too, one day, can inspire other chefs. 

“To be prepping in a kitchen or doing a dinner or walking around with so many chefs who are the best of the best…can’t help but fuel my desire to put out delicious food.” 

More at pebblebeachfoodandwine.com