For the second year, Bethel Woods invites local food lovers to celebrate all things gourmet with famed chefs and restaurateurs.
If you could envision your perfect food festival, what would it include? There’d be incredible food, to be sure. Perhaps you’d also throw in a dash of demonstrations, a sprinkling of celebrity chefs, and a good pinch of local talent, too. It’s a recipe for success, and one that Catskill Cuisine follows to a tee.
What is Catskill Cuisine?
Planned for Friday, May 10, through Sunday, May 12, the second annual Catskill Cuisine is a one-of-a-kind food fest at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, in partnership with the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association. It’s a full weekend of drinking, eating, learning, and meeting, with an impressive slew of top-tier culinary talent on the lineup.
“We are thrilled to bring our community together for an even more multifaceted destination event this year,” says Roberta Byron-Lockwood, the president and CEO of the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association (SCVA). “From our craft beverage trail to our James Beard-recognized chefs and breadth of farm-to-table offerings, the Sullivan Catskills continues to draw regional and national recognition for our culinary offerings, and we can’t wait to showcase it all to our guests.”
If the Food Network is your jam, you’ll be more than a little excited to watch demos from the likes of Anne Burrell, Scott Conant, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Symon, Geoffrey Zakarian, and Andrew Zimmern. Plus, true foodies will adore spotting Melba Wilson, the restaurateur behind Melba’s, which boasts multiple locations around Harlem and Manhattan. The schedule features a medley of local, state, and national talents, so there’s truly something for everyone here.
The Schedule
So, what else should you expect? This year, Catskill Cuisine tempts with three days of exciting events. Friday kicks off with a celebrity and chef invitational at the historic Monster Golf Course at Resorts World Catskills in Monticello. During the golf outing, attendees can expect friendly competition and delectable bites, not to mention an exclusive post-dinner reception with Scott Conant and Marcus Samuelsson. Proceeds from the event will help support A Single Bite, a Sullivan Catskills nonprofit that works to educate and feed the community with healthy, local food.
On Saturday, May 11, the food festival at Bethel Woods opens in full force. Expect a day packed to the brim with local, national, and international cuisine, as well as live cooking demos from top talent and tasting opportunities galore.
To wrap things up, Sunday, May 12 brings with it a special Mother’s Day brunch, a private affair hosted and curated by celebrity chefs Anne Burrell and Melba Wilson. If you haven’t picked anything up for mother dearest yet, consider this the perfect present.
“Bethel Woods was honored to host Catskill Cuisine last year,” enthuses Eric Frances, the CEO of Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and chair of the SCVA. “We are so pleased to see the event grow into the multi-day festival we always dreamed it could be.”
And, if the ticket tiers are any indication, there’s no time like the present to get passes to the foodie to-do. Tickets went on sale on March 21, and prices start at $64 for general admission and $179 for VIP, with add-ons for celebrity meet and greets with Andrew Zimmern, Michael Symon, and/or Geoffrey Zakarian. The golf outing has pricing tiers for golf for one ($450), the 19th hole reception and dinner ($175), and golf for four ($1,800). As for the Mother’s Day brunch, pricing through May 2 runs $129 per person or $59 for children ages three to 12.
Intrigued? The festival has options for everyone, making it the perfect activity for food lovers on a spring weekend. To learn more and stay informed about the latest festival updates, visit Catskill Cuisine’s website.
