Big Name Chefs Coming to St. Pete for Food, Arts Festival

Enjoy Arts & Tastes: St. Petersburg & the Bay Area Festival of Food, Wine and the Arts announced the big-name chefs that will be attending the inaugural festival. 

Formerly called E.A.T St. Pete, the festival will take place Nov. 15 - 17 at various locations in St. Petersburg including the Museum of Fine Arts, Mahaffey Theater, Dali Museum and the Vinoy. 

Participating chefs include Donatella Arpaia, Duff Goldman, Ingrid Hoffmann, Masaharu Morimoto, Ming Tsai, Scott Conant, Todd English and Lorena Garcia. 

"We’re excited about the Festival’s partners and participants all joining forces to showcase the best that St. Petersburg and the Bay area have to offer,” said Bill Edwards, Chairman of Bill Edwards Presents, in a news release.

“The St. Pete/Clearwater area already enjoys an international reputation as a world-class beach destination, so one of the primary objectives of the festival is to highlight our amazing array of arts and culinary offerings - most notably, the abundance of high-quality, Gulf-fresh seafood,” said DT Minich, Executive Director of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, in a news release.

According to festival organizers, proceeds from ticket sales for Enjoy Arts & Tastes will benefit Florida ProStart, a program of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation. ProStart is a nationwide, two-year non-profit high school program for students interested in the restaurant and foodservice industry.

Tickets for the food and arts festival events start at $50. They can be purchased online.