The 13th annual Euphoria Food, Wine and Music Festival has announced this year’s roster of six Michelin-starred chefs. The 2018 participating chefs with one- and two-star distinctions include Sean Gray of Momofuku Ko in New York City, Matthew Accarrino of SPQR in San Francisco, Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco, Karen and John Shields of Smyth in Chicago, and Vivien Durand of Prince Noir in Bordeaux, France.
Since the early 1900s, the highly regarded Michelin Guide has identified and awarded stars to establishments serving the highest-quality cuisine. The one-, two-, and three-star designations take into account the quality of ingredients, mastery of techniques and flavors, levels of creativity, and consistency.
This year’s Michelin-starred chefs will participate in the following festival events:
Two-star Michelin chef Sean Gray and his partner Su Wong Ruiz of Momofuku Ko will team up with chef Sean Brock for the already-sold-out Michelin Takeover Dinner on Friday, Sept. 21, at Husk Greenville. Gray previously participated in the 2015 Coast to Coast Euphoria dinner hosted by Restaurant 17 with three-starred chef Curtis Duffy, formerly of Grace in Chicago, which closed in 201
Avid cyclist and one-starred Michelin chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR can be found at Cycling With Chefs on Thursday, Sept. 20, at Hotel Domestique, and on Saturday, Sept. 22, he will participate in the Upstate Pairing at Stella’s Southern Brasserie along with Stella’s chefs Jason Scholz and Jeff Kelly. In fall 2017, Accarrino participated as a cyclist in the Gran Fondo cycling event hosted by George Hincapie at Hotel Domestique and Restaurant 17, where he also was one of several guest chefs for the Friday night event.
The multicourse dinner event Seeing Stars: A Michelin-Starred Dinner at Soby’s on Saturday, Sept. 22, will feature chefs who have not previously participated in Euphoria or any other Greenville culinary experience. One-star Michelin chefs Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s and Vivien Durand of Prince Noir will join two-star Michelin chef couple Karen and John Shields of Smyth for the dinner hosted by Soby’s chef Shaun Garcia.
Sunday wraps up the Michelin experience with the Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown, the festival’s signature kids’ recipe and cooking contest. Entrants are required to submit original recipes that are healthy, delicious, and economic. Based on these criteria, finalists will be selected by a panel of judges to participate in a live cooking challenge on Euphoria’s main culinary stage with assistance from the festival’s visiting Michelin chefs.
Michelin has had a presence in Upstate South Carolina since the opening of the company’s first U.S.-based factory in 1975, only made stronger when Michelin moved its North American headquarters to Greenville in 1988. Michelin’s increased involvement in Euphoria over the years has helped pave the way for the festival to bring in more esteemed culinary talent each year.