Food and drink festival with celebrity chefs coming to Callaway Gardens

Sip & Savor, a four-day food and drink festival, is coming once again to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., just north of Columbus.

The event, in its second year at the Callaway resort, will take place March 15-18, a Thursday through Sunday, with limited advance tickets on sale through Jan. 31, according to Jan Gourley, partner with Hilton Head Island, S.C.-based The Adfish Group, a public relations company that specializes in organizing and marketing these types of culinary gatherings.

The event includes the James Beard Foundation Awards, “often referred to as the Academy Awards of the culinary world,” according to Gourley, as well as a Celebrity Chef Tour that features top names in the industry, as well as some of the best local chefs. Jamie Keating, owner of Epic restaurant in downtown Columbus, is among those scheduled to be on hand this year, she said.

“It’s a unique dinner that brings together world-renowned winemakers, master sommeliers and beverage experts to pair their wines with each chef’s course, to create a multi-course, interactive dining experience,” Gourley said in a release.

Depending on the weather and temperatures, azalea season typically starts in mid- to late March at Callaway Gardens, with blooming continuing through much of April. Dogwood trees and flowers such as daffodils and tulips also infuse the resort with color each spring.

Here is a schedule for the 2018 Sip & Savor:

March 15 — James Beard Foundation, Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner, 6 p.m., Callaway Resort Gardens; a six-course, wine paired dinner with celebrity guest chefs hosted by the resort’s culinary team

March 16 — Bloom Master Class Series at various locations at Callaway, with a day-class pass available.

▪ Class 1 is “Butterflies & Brews, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Day Butterfly Center: Learn how to create a butterfly garden from master gardeners and the Callaway culinary and gardening teams, with a guest chef cooking demo and the culinary creations paired with a variety of Georgia’s best craft brews

▪ Class 2: French Cooking with Herbs and Edible Flowers, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center with chef and author Jennifer Booker, master gardeners and Callaway’s culinary and gardening team. Chef Jennifer’s creations will be paired with wine tastings

▪ Class 3: Biscuits 101 & Bourbon, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center with celebrity guest chefs and James Beard Foundation award-winning authors, Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart. Guests will be guided through the art of making Southern biscuits, paired with bourbon tastings

March 16 — Sip & Savor, ski pavilion on Robin Lake Beach, 7 to 9 p.m. A waterfront and interactive tastings with beer, wines spirits, gourmet sweet and savory tasting bites, music and more on the beach and under the pavilion.

March 17 — Waffle House Showdown, presented by Waffle House, demo pavilion next to the Big Top Tent at Robin Lake Beach, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

March 17 — Tastings Under the Big Top, at the Florida State University High Flying Circus Tent, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The main event with music, food and beverages

March 18 — Longleaf Brunch, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., presented by Callaway Resort & Gardens

Here’s a list of celebrity chefs committed to the event, along with short bios:

Hugo Ortega: Executive chef of four of Houston’s top restaurants — Hugo’s, Caracol, Backstreet Cafe and Xochi, which he owns with wife Tracy Vaught under the umbrella of H Town Restaurant Group. Ortega received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef (Southwest) at the James Beard Foundation Awards in May 2017 (he was a six-time consecutive finalist for the award from 2012 to 2017)

David Bancroft: Executive chef/partner of Acre Restaurant in Auburn, Ala. — Acre opened in August 2013, a joint venture with family and close friends. Bancroft received his second semi-finalist nomination from the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef (South) in 2017. He recently won Food Network’s “Iron Chef Battle Apples” episode, broadcast in December

Erik Niel and his wife Amanda: Opened Easy Bistro & Bar in downtown Chattanooga in 2005, where he serves as executive chef and owner. Seafood has always been a main focus for the restaurant, drawing on his Louisiana roots and love for quality catch. In October 2014, Erik and his wife Amanda assumed operations of Main Street Meats, a neighborhood butcher shop that works closely with Chattanooga’s surrounding farmland. Erik is a multi-semifinalist nominee for Best Chef Southeast

Kenny Gilbert: Best known for his appearance on “Top Chef” season seven, where he displayed big personality and instantly become one of the most likable “cheftestants” to date. He has cooked at the James Beard House, participated in wine and food festivals around the country, cooked for the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl party, and appeared on the “Today Show,” Jacksonville’s Fox 30 and in the Los AngelesTimes. He has cooked for the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Stedman Graham, Samuel L. Jackson and A.J. Calloway. Last October, he competed on and won Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.” He can often be found in the kitchen at Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen in Fernadina Beach, Fla., or Gilbert’s Social in Jacksonville, Fla.

Kevin Davis: Executive chef for Callaway Resort & Gardens and host chef for the dinner. He has extensive prior experience with Wyndham Worldwide Hotel & Resorts, beginning his career at Wyndham Baltimore Harbor Hotel in 2001 and most recently at Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center. Educated at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, he also studied abroad at the Escuela Internacionalde Cocina in Validolid, Spain, and has been a participant in the Atlanta Chef’s Expo and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City

Michael Sullivan: Butcher and charcutier for American Cured, he will be offering a tutorial at the Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner reception. He found passion in the industry through working with his hands to combine unique spices and flavors with numerous kinds of meats and creating an innovative dish

Jamie Keating: A certified executive chef, he is the chef and manager at Epic restaurant in Columbus. He is a graduate of Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks of New York, and the Culinary Institute at Greystone in California. He is a member of the 2008 ACF United States Culinary Olympic Team and a recent triple gold medalist in the Kochunhunst Austerlang in Erfurt, Germany. He has been featured on the Food Network and in culinary and national publications and also is owner and chef of Jamie Keating Culinary Inc.

Cary Wolfe: Executive chef at The Kitchen at Rose Cottage in Pine Mountain, Ga., he specializes in a fresh farm-to-table menu and is well known for his creativity

This story was originally published January 15, 2018 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Food and drink festival with celebrity chefs coming to Callaway Gardens."