September 2016 Food & Drink Happenings – Nashville

The 4th annual InterNASHional food crawl is coming up soon, and I can personally attest that it’s a fun and delicious way to spend a Saturday afternoon! The crawl explores a 5‐mile stretch of Nolensville Road, where participants are able to try incredible foods from around the world– Mexico, India, Thailand, the Middle East and many more.

General event tickets include a map for you to drive your own car to at least five participating restaurants and markets where you can sample food at your own pace. Note: When you purchase your ticket, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a pdf ticket attached. On the day of the tour, you take that ticket to Plaza Mariachi between noon-4 pm. In exchange for that ticket, you’ll be provided with a wristband and a map of the restaurants you can visit for food and drink samples.

If you’d rather not drive yourself, but instead be transported around and imbibe a bit during your travel, then the Curated Food Tour is for you. Added last year, my BFFs and I went on this tour and had a blast! You ride a charter bus from site to site, are provided adult beverages, and have a group tour guide to tell you stories of the restaurants and owners while you travel. Note: the Curated Food Tours begin at noon and 2 pm.

For more information on the event and to purchase tickets, visit the event website.

2nd Annual Empanada Tasting

Wednesday, September 7th, 2016
5:30 – 8:30 pm

Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Andrew Jackson Hall Lobby
505 Deaderick St.
Nashville, TN 37219

Cost: $20

This event somehow slipped right past my radar last year. I’m pretty certain I would have been all over the prospect of an empanada tasting!

Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce (TLACC) and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) will host their 2nd Annual Empanada Tasting Event in the main lobby space at TPAC on September 7th. Attendees will get to try five empanadas and be provided with a soft drink or water with the purchase of a ticket. Additional food and drinks will be available from the vendors and TPAC concessions if that’s not enough to fill you up.

This year, the event will also feature a special presentation from Studio Tenn Theatre Company, whose original production of “Evita” opens the 2016-17 Broadway at TPAC season on September 9th-18th. For more information, visit the event website.

Music City Food + Wine

Grand Tasting and Chef Showcase
Saturday, September 17th and Sunday, September 18th, 2016
11 am – 4 pm
Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

Harvest Night
Saturday, September 17th
7 – 11 pm
Walk of Fame Park

Cost: 1-day Pass $150
All-in 2 day Pass $500
Harvest Night Only $275

Summer has flown by and I can’t believe Music City Food + Wine is less than a month away!!! This will be the fourth year for the event, and I’ve had the pleasure of attending every year. Check out my experiences from 2013 here , 2014 here and 2015 here. The change of venue last year to Bicentennial Park was awesome, so I was thrilled to see that it would be happening there again this year.

For this year’s full schedule, click here and to take a gander at the talent, click here. Celebrity chef demos and panel discussions run simultaneously with Grand Taste, so you can flit back and forth between food stations and tents, and never feel like you’re missing out on anything. I’ve been asked by many people if I think this event is worth the price tag. As far as the 1-day passes go, I absolutely, without a doubt, do. I’ve been to many food festivals over the years, and in comparison to the ticket cost on some of them, I truly think that the 5 hours of food, drink, education and entertainment this one offers blows others away.

To purchase tickets, or for more detailed information, visit the Music City Food + Wine website. Can’t wait to see some of you there!

Fall Crush

Sunday, September 25th, 2016
4 – 8 pm

Green Door Gourmet
7011 River Road Pike
Nashville, TN 37209

Cost: $150

I love that Autumn is almost upon us. Sorry Summer, but you are definitely not my favorite season. What better way to kick off Fall than with a farm-to- table event at Green Door Gourmet’s Grand Barn?  Fall Crush will feature Nashville Chefs Trey Cioccia of The Farm House, Pastry Chef Rachel De Jong of 5th & Taylor, Hal Holden-Bache of Lockeland Table, Travis McShane of Adele’s and Eric Zizka of Oak Steakhouse

A celebration of wine and food benefiting the Mid South Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the event will consist of a locally sourced dinner, exclusive wines, silent and live auctions, and great music (because it’s Nashville!). Tickets can be purchased at www.fallcrushms.org.