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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Attending Pebble Beach Food & Wine introduces some of the toughest decisions you'll have to make in your life.
Do I eat more short rib tater tots or jerk beef tartare? Do I sample another port from Portugal or move to some wines from California or even Uruguay? How much is too much to eat and drink on this spectacularly sunny Saturday in April at Pebble Beach Resorts?
Pebble Beach Food & Wine made a triumphant return April 4-7 after a five-year pandemic hiatus. The weekend party celebrates the lifestyle every golfer craves - good food, fine drink, beautiful courses (although no tee times are required) and the camaraderie that comes with meeting new people from around the world. It was great to see one of the resort's signature events reviving its momentum like it never left.
"I was really excited personally (for the return). You know we have all the golf, the car show, but this is for us (the chefs)," said Anna Marie Bayonito, the Chef de Cuisine at Sticks Restaurant at the Inn at Spanish Bay. "We get to see all of our friends from near and far. It's just so great. My chefs are so excited to have it back."
Food and wine festivals are all the rage at a number of premier golf resorts. Primland in Virginia just announced the inaugural Highland Golf and Wine Classic, a celebration of golf, wine, and epicurean experiences in May in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Dominican Republic's Casa de Campo recently hosted Epicurea, a four-day festival in March that will run it back in January 2025 in conjunction with PGA Magazine. Florida's Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival took a big leap in stature in 2023 by partnering with Wine Spectator. It will celebrate its 17th year in December, holding events throughout South Florida, including The Breakers Palm Beach and Boca Raton Resort & Club, two premier golf resorts. The Punta Mita Gourmet and Golf delivers an extravagant affair held every December along Mexico's Pacific Coast.
These events are a great way for resorts to attract both golfers and non-golfers, while at the same time showcasing their restaurants. If you didn't know already, foodies and winos are just as neurotic as golfers when it comes to knowing exactly what they want.
Pebble Beach Food & Wine offers seminars with award-winning chefs, separate brunches, lunches and dinners and the popular Saturday and Sunday tasting pavilion, where everybody gathers for live music and food and drink from dozens of talented chefs and award-winning vineyards. Tickets range from $350 for a single event up to thousands of dollars for an all-access pass.
Portugal had an impressive contingent of winemakers from its Porto region a couple hours north of Lisbon. My wife and I tried to sample as many delicacies as humanly possible: smoked beef ribs from Horn Barbecue, wagyu beef carpaccio from Michelin-star Chef Danny Grant of Maple & Ash and smoked pork belly. You leave feeling guilty that you didn't have the time or the stomach space to sample more.
A new Happy Hour
New this year was the Burgers, Bourbon & Bordeaux Happy Hour outside on the patio of Sticks at the Inn at Spanish Bay. As a golfer who has sampled hundreds of golf clubhouse burgers, I was blown away by all the new sensations grilled up for my taste buds. Houston's Truth BBQ Classic Smash Burger - lathered in its smoked chipotle comeback sauce - is probably the best I've ever had.
The crowd and mix of vendors was smaller, but the view of the golf course and water was intoxicating. Bourbons and whiskeys ranged from Jefferson's to Uncle Nearest and Blade and Bow, which mixed a mean 'New Fashioned'.
"With how they're doing it this year ... it allows the festival to be more personable. I really like that," Bayonito said. "We get a little bit more smaller crowds. You can actually have conversations with the chefs, so I think it's awesome. I really like how they have it set up this year."
One California couple we met said their daughter will be begging to come next year after seeing the pictures on their phones. As grizzled veterans of past festivals, another couple bought the exclusive platinum passes to attend multiple events over the four days. By happy hour, they had run out of energy but were perfectly content to just sit and stare at the ocean.
"We love it here. This never gets old," the husband said.
That's the thing - people can mix the drinks and cook the dishes elsewhere, but no one can replicate that view.
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