Chefs, restaurateurs and food enthusiasts will travel to Greenville Sept. 16-19 for the annual Euphoria food festival, back for a 16th year after a scaled-down 2020 gathering. Attendees will participate in 40-plus events, including tastings, cooking demonstrations, seminars, multi-course dinners and appearances from well-known chefs, including Home Team BBQ’s Aaron Siegel and Taylor Garrigan, Lewis Barbecue’s John Lewis, Edmund’s Oast’s Bob Cook, Circa 1886’s Marc Collins and Kevin Mitchell from the Culinary Institute of Charleston.
“Every year we have great representation from Charleston chefs, so you can get a little taste of home while also trying new things,” said Euphoria executive director Morgan Allen. “Euphoria is the perfect weekend getaway for Charlestonians. The short drive means you can easily get here in time for one of our afternoon classrooms or lunches, then take a break and explore our beautiful downtown before the evening events get underway.”
In addition to Charleston’s representatives, seven Michelin-starred chefs will be in attendance at this year’s Euphoria, including Nozomu Abe of NYC’s Michelin-starred Sushi Noz, Emma Bengtsson of New York City’s Aquavit and Val Cantu of Californios in San Francisco, the first Mexican restaurant in the U.S. to earn two Michelin stars.
Euphoria’s pared-down 2020 festival featured 25 total events, many of which were classrooms and seated lunches, and both will be back on the schedule this year. Look for 23 classrooms and lunches like “Wine Mythbusters,” a wine tasting that will “bust some of the biggest myths seasoned wine drinkers and newbies share.”
“That’s a direct result of the positive feedback organizers received from last year’s guests, when everything was scaled back with a focus on smaller gatherings,” a Euphoria spokesperson said. “People seemed to love that, so we’re keeping them in this year’s line-up.”
Tickets are still available for several Euphoria events, including Thursday’s “Aged to Perfection” signature event, Friday’s “Domestic Delicacies” guest chef dinner and the “Feast by the Field,” a signature event taking place Saturday and Sunday.
As of Aug. 17, Euphoria does not have a vaccine or mask mandate in place, but the festival “will be meeting or exceeding all recommendations from both the CDC and South Carolina DHEC.”