Festival Gourmet In Puerto Vallarta

Festival Gourmet In Puerto Vallarta

This year’s Festival Gourmet International is nearly here and Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, & Tepic are ready! This exciting event was started back in 1995 by local chefs Thierry Blouet and Heinz Reize. Blouet and Reize joined forces to create the Festival Gourmet with the goal of promoting local restaurants by inviting internationally recognized chefs to attend the festival. Over the years, the Festival Gourmet International has become a huge success which has helped to elevate Puerto Vallarta to competitive international standards by incorporating new culinary techniques from its invited chefs.

The History of Festival Gourmet International

In its first year in 1995, the Festival Gourmet International only had six local hotels and six independent restaurants that participated. Now, twenty-four years later the general format remains the same in that each local restaurant or hotel invites a chef to highlight their event. This year’s event will feature twenty-eight hotels and restaurants. In total, more than half a million people have attended the festivals over the years, and nearly six hundred celebrity chefs have participated. The success of the Festival Gourmet International has helped Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit to earn a world class culinary reputation and even Michelin star guest chefs are now attending the festival.

Program Features

The Festival Gourmet International will begin this year on Friday, Nov. 23rd and lasts until Sunday, Dec. 2nd. Each of the participating restaurants and hotels will host special events and International chefs will present their culinary creations to attendees. Festival attendees will be treated to a delicious tasting menu, or a gourmet a la carte dinner, depending on the particular event they attend. The first event of the festival will be held at the Hilton Hotel’s new Jalisco Hall where all the chefs and hosts of the festival will attend. This first event offers a chance to personally meet the guest chefs and taste a variety of exquisite cuisine. In addition to enjoying amazing food, festival attendees will be served a premium selection of wines, tequilas and beers.

Premium Local Restaurants

The top restaurants in town are participating in this year’s festival which includes La Casona, Bocados STK, Cafe des Artistes and many others. La Casona is situated in the upscale Villa La Estancia located in Riviera Nayarit and they will feature a Mediterranean menu designed by head Chef Leonardo Castro. Chef Castro uses international-level techniques that are a fusion of French, Italian,Thai, Asian, Mediterranean and Mexican cuisine. La Casona’s invited Chef’s are Penny Davidi & Luciano Mier Santoro who will be on hand to offer their expertise in the elegant Hacienda setting. Villa La Estancia’s La Casona restaurant is known for having specialty and fine choices of meat like Kobe and New York cuts.

Top Events And Chefs

At Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa, local Chef Álvaro Cortez will head up the event at the Bocados STK Mixology and Grill restaurant. Chef Cortez was formerly the head chef at Villa del Palmar Cancun. This year, Chef Cortez will be joined by invited guest chef Andrés García González who is Head Chef at the Villa del Palmar Cancun resort. In October 2010, García González represented Mexico abroad when he participated in the “Passion in Paris” Trophy contest in France.

Mole and Mariachi

This year’s Festival Gourmet International will also feature a Night of Mole and Mariachi on Nov. 28th at 8pm at the renowned Cafe des Artistes. Mole is one of Mexico’s traditional dishes, and Mariachi music is passionate and impressive so it is sure to be a magical evening not to be missed. Cafe des Artistes is a world renowned fine dining restaurant is in a class of its own that has been serving up incredible and unique dishes for over 27 years. Cafe des Artistes Head chef and founder Thierry Blouet has elevated the Puerto Vallarta food scene to an internationally competitive level cuisine.

Don’t miss out on attending this year’s 2018 Festival Gourmet International in Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit & Tepic. Destined to be an exciting gastronomic event that everyone will enjoy.

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