21 Food & Drink Events for January and Beyond

It's January 2014 and the holiday season is officially over, but rest assured that there are just as many upcoming food and drink events as ever. This month proves to be a busy one for San Francisco, which not only is playing host to the Bay Area Brew Festival, but also the Good Food Awards and the Winter Fancy Food Show. A handful of famous chefs who are lucky enough to be pals with Eric Ripert are headed to Grand Cayman for the annual Cayman Cookout, while some others will be relaxing in Hawaii instead at the Kohala Coast stop on the Celebrity Chef Tour. Overseas, one of Spain's important gastronomic congresses MadridFusión will once again draw together chefs from across the world to discuss culinary creativity and more. Here's the full list:

Indie Chefs Week
When: January 7 — January 11, 2014
Where: Austin, TX
What: Austin is declaring this particular January week to be one celebrating its indie chefs. More than 30 guest chefs will join together for five nights of collaborative dinners at Foreign & Domestic. Visiting chefs include Tim Maslow (Strip T's, Boston), Jason French (Ned Ludd, Portland), Justin Severino (Cure, Pittsburgh), Matt McCallister (FT33, Dallas), and many more.

Bay Area Brew Festival
When: January 11, 2014
Where: San Francisco, CA
What: More than 60 domestic and international breweries are descending upon San Francisco in January, ready to pour hundreds of beers in what is now the festival's fourth year. The lineup of breweries includes 21st Amendment, Goose Island, Oskar Blues, New Belgium, Crispin Cider, and more. There will also be food trucks on hand.

Cookbook Boot Camp
When: January 12 — January 14, 2014; January 19 — January 21, 2014
Where: Charleston, SC
What: Cookbook authors Matt and Ted Lee are hosting cookbook retreats in Charleston offering professional chefs tips on how to make a successful cookbook proposal over the course of six seminars. The two-day boot camp will be held over two separate weekends in January.

Cayman Cookout
When: January 16 — January 19, 2014
Where: Grand Cayman
What: Eric Ripert returns to Grand Cayman to host another iteration of his much-anticipated Cayman Cookout. This year's lineup of chefs includes the recurring characters of José Andrés and Anthony Bourdain, as well as Daniel Boulud, Rick Bayless, Lidia Bastianich, Martin Picard, and more for a weekend of Caribbean culinary seminars, snorkeling, and gala dinners.

San Antonio Cocktail Conference
When: January 16 — January 19, 2014
Where: San Antonio, TX
What: Modeled on Tales of the Cocktail — and the first of its kind in Texas — the San Antonio Cocktail Conference is back this year with parties devoted exclusively to Bloody Marys and tequila, a "Texas Spirits Night" on a barge, a "Sherry Slam," seminars, tastings, and more.

Good Food Awards
When: January 16 — January 18, 2014
Where: San Francisco, CA
What: This year's Good Food Awards include two events that are open to the public. There's a limited number of tickets available to attend the award ceremony itself as well as the gala reception afterward that will feature the winning products. The winners will also be displaying their wares at a Good Food Awards marketplace on January 18 at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

Celebrity Chef Tour
When: January 17 — January 18, 2014
Where: Kohala Coast, HI
What: The Celebrity Chef Tour hits Hawaii's Mauna Lani Bay Hotel with a two-night dinner lineup that includes Jonathan Waxman, Michael Voltaggio, Nancy Silverton, and Philip "Ippy" Aiona joining host chef Clayton Arakawa. Bacardi's Manny Hinojosa will be on hand, too, to crank out the cocktails.

Chefs to the Max
When: January 19, 2014
Where: Las Vegas, NV
What: Las Vegas restaurants are teaming up on an ongoing series of dinners to raise funds for local critic/journalist Max Jacobson, who was hit by a car two days before Christmas. Rick Moonen's Rx Boiler Room at Mandalay Bay is hosting the kickoff event, which will also feature chefs Tom Colicchio, Thomas Keller, Hubert Keller, Akira Back, Susan Feniger, Mary Sue Milliken, Bradley Ogden, and more.

Winter Fancy Food Show
When: January 19 — January 21, 2014
Where: San Francisco, CA
What: The Fancy Food Show hits the West Coast yet again with its Winter edition that will feature about 80,000 specialty foods and drinks from exhibitors hailing from around the world. Beyond the exhibition itself, there will be seminars and tastings, and also a leadership awards ceremony.

Key West Food & Wine Festival
When: January 22 — January 26, 2014
Where: Key West, FL
What: The Key West Food & Wine Festival returns in 2014 with a slew of events such as a beach party, a conch-style pig roast, the Save the Turtles grand tasting, a French masquerade party, and more. There will also be seminars on things like ceviche, rum, and key lime pie.

Oregon Truffle Festival
When: January 24 — January 26, 2014
Where: Eugene, OR
What: The Oregon Truffle Festival is so well-liked and jam-packed with interesting events that many of the weekend experiences have already sold out. That said, there's still truffle dog training and an Oregon truffle marketplace that includes "truffle tastings, artisan foods, fresh truffles, a truffle dog demonstration, and lecture series."

International Chocolate Festival
When: January 24 — January 26, 2014
Where: Coral Gables, FL
What: Chocolate experts from around the world are descending upon Florida in late January for the annual festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Chocolatiers and chefs — including Hoboken's Maricel Presilla — will be giving demonstrations and lectures on growing cacao and cooking with chocolate.

Sips and Suppers
When: January 25 — January 26, 2014
Where: Washington, DC
What: Once again, José Andrés, Alice Waters, and Joan Nathan are teaming up for Washington, DC's annual Sips and Suppers event. On January 25, Sips will bring together artisans and bartenders in a tasting event at the Newseum. Then, on January 26, well known chefs will invade homes throughout the DC region to cook dinners that will raise money for the city's needy. Participating chefs include Cathal Armstrong (Restaurant Eve, Alexandria, VA), Peter Chang (Peter Chang, Richmond), Spike Gjerde (Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore), Paul Qui (Qui Austin), and Alon Shaya (Domenica, New Orleans).

Cochon 555
When: January 26, 2014
Where: New York, NY
What: Traveling celebration of all things pork Cochon 555 is back again with its 2014 tour, kicking off in New York City on January 26. Chefs Frank Langello (Babbo Ristorante), Michael Toscano (Perla), Seamus Mullen (Tertulia), Lauren Hirschberg (CraftBar), and David Standridge (Market Table) will compete this year for the title of Prince or Princess of Pork.

MadridFusión
When: January 27 — January 29, 2014
Where: Madrid, Spain
What: Late January brings the 12th edition of the international gastronomic conference MadridFusión, whose theme this year is "Inspiration in the Street." Chefs such as Joan Roca, Pascal Barbot, Juan Mari Arzak, Quique Dacosta, Elena Arzak, Michel Bras, Kobe Desramaults, and more big names will be there. José Andrés and Spain's David Muñoz will be talking about the "apogee of bars" both fine dining and casual. There's also going to be a particular emphasis on Andean cuisine, master classes, and a talk from the elBulliFoundation team on the "50 questions that will change the way we look at cooking."

Film Feast 2014
When: January 30 — February 9, 2014
Where: Santa Barbara, CA
What: This Santa Barbara film festival maintains a strong culinary component, teaming up with local restaurants that are all offering themed prix-fixe menus. There are Big Lebowski dinners at Julienne and Blush, while La Arcada Bistro also will have a prix fixe inspired by Jeff Bridges in True Grit.

Looking Ahead:

Copenhagen Cooking
When: February 1 — February 28, 2014
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
What: This food festival, billed as the largest in Northern Europe, returns in 2014 to focus on themes like "Taste of Emotions," "Seasonally Nordic," and sustainability. The program includes dinners paired with opera music and fairy tales, a cruise via covered canal boat to various Copenhagen restaurants (including Verandah at the new Standard complex), and more.

Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience
When: February 2 — February 5, 2014
Where: Courmayeur, Italy
What: British chef Heston Blumenthal will host this culinary event at Italy's famed Courmayeur ski resort in early February. He'll be bringing fellow chefs Sat Bains and Marcus Wareing over as well to prepare three-course apres-ski dinners for guests at these mountain restaurants.

Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef Gala and Toques & Tonic
When: February 6 — February 7, 2014
Where: Boston, MA
What: Chef Barbara Lynch is hosting two major fundraising events in February, starting with the Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef Gala on February 6 in which she will cook a five-course dinner with the likes of Daniel Boulud and Gary Danko. Then, on February 7, a Toques & Tonic event will feature tastings from chefs such as David Chang, Suzanne Goin, Paul Kahan, Jamie Bissonnette, and more, to benefit the Barbara Lynch Foundation.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival
When: February 20 — February 23, 2014
Where: Miami, FL
What: The annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival returns yet again this year with a lineup of TV chefs such as Anne Burrell, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence, Rachael Ray, Aarón Sánchez, Michael Symon, and more. In addition to tastings, seminars, and dinners, there's going to be a José Andrés-hosted celebrity chef golf tournament, a Spotted Pig 10-year anniversary dinner, and, of course, the burger bash.

Jubilee
When: March 30, 2014
Where: New York, NY
What: Biannual food magazine Cherry Bombe announced last month that their first-ever food conference will take place in New York City on March 9, 2014. Named Jubilee, the conference will follow in the magazine's mission to "celebrate women and food."

Something missing? Email it in and we'll add to the roster.

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