Miami Beach
#1 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
The best known food festival in the country featured 90 events, 400 chefs, and 65,000 attendees this year. Highlights included a cooking demo by Snoop Dogg and a $850-per-ticket dinner hosted by Michelin-starred Italian chef Massimo Bottura. Media outreach among all platforms for the festival, which is put on in conjunction with the Food Network, yielded 2.6 billion impressions. The event supports Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Next: February 21-25, 2018
Chicago
#2 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Now in its third year in the Windy City, the “Oscars of the food world” were presented at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a ceremony hosted by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Top winners included New York’s Le Coucou (Best New Restaurant); Philadelphia’s Michael Solomonov of Zahav (Outstanding Chef); New York’s Ghaya Oliveira of Daniel (Outstanding Pastry Chef); Chicago’s Topolobambo (Outstanding Restaurant); and Philadelphia’s Stephen Starr of Starr Restaurants, whose restaurants include Le Coucou, Serpico, and Upland (Outstanding Restaurateur). Next: May 7, 2018
New York
#3 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
More than 50,000 food fans attended the fall festival, taking in more than 90 events such as tastings, intimate dinners with celebrity chefs, food-filled late parties, wine tastings, and more. Presented by Coca-Cola, the city’s largest food and wine festival takes place on Manhattan’s Piers 92 and 94, while Brooklyn hosted some events in a nod to the borough’s increasing significance on the food front. New events in 2016 included Koreatown Eats, sponsored by Korean Food Foundation; Rooftop Chopped; Lucky Chopsticks: An Asian Night Market, hosted by Andrew Zimmern; and the walk-around tasting event Chelsea Market Live, hosted by Haylie Duff, Tia Mowry, and Tiffani Thiessen. Other highlights included Porchetta, Pigs & Pints, hosted by Mario Batali; Aperitivo, hosted by Anne Burrell; and Harvest Party, hosted by Katie Lee and Marcela Valladolid. Next: October 12-15, 2017
Las Vegas
#4 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
The festival hosted a new event concept this year, Picnic in the Park, which featured edible gardens and twists on classic picnic dishes made by some of MGM Resorts’ most notable chefs in new outdoor dining and entertainment destination the Park. Guests could play a variety of games, including giant Jenga and corn-hole, and a vintage VW bus was transformed into a photo booth. All told, the four-day food and-wine event—which was presented by sponsors Chase Sapphire, Bon Appetit, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority—brought in 5,600 attendees, a boost from its previous 5,000. Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, who have participated in the event since its inception, were the first female chefs to lead the ceremonial saber off. Next: April 2018
New Orleans
#5 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
A host of new offerings were added to the weeklong spirits festival this year, including an app for the roughly 10,000 attendees; education on the stories of successful bars, sustainability, and sexual assault prevention; and a pop-up store from Fleurty Girl, a local boutique selling New Orleans-theme items. Produced by the New Orleans Culinary & Cultural Preservation Society, the 2017 version featured 86 tasting rooms and 29 “spirited dinners.” Next: July 17-22, 2018
Aspen, Colorado
#6 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Venues such as the Sundeck of Aspen Mountain and a multimillion-dollar mansion overlooking the mountains near the center of town served up breathtaking views for the 5,000 food and wine enthusiasts who attended the summer event thrown by Food & Wine. Highlights included a Dubai-focused dinner on opening night; the Height of Good Taste Dinner, a collaboration between chefs Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, Kendall-Jackson, and San Pellegrino/Acqua Panna; and a much buzzed-about activation, the American Express Platinum House x Stephanie Izard, where food from the Chicago-based Top Chef winner and newest Iron Chef was served. Next: June 15-17, 2018
Chicago
#7 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (new to the list)
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, participating chefs are staging 10 ancillary events this year, in addition to the Grand Cru tasting in Millennium Park. Centered around an architecture theme, the add-on events will take place at iconic spots around town, such as Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, the Chicago Riverwalk, Wrigley Field—where elevated versions of “classic ballpark fare” will be dished out by 15 chefs—and more. More than 13,500 guests are expected at the extravaganza presented by Bon Appetit. Next: September 19-24, 2017
New York
#8 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Just over 1 million ESPN2 watchers saw competitive eater Joey Chestnut, or “Jaws,” as he’s called, take top honors for the 10th time this year by ingesting 72 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, maintaining his record number of wins in the contest. On the women’s side, Miki Sudo claimed her fourth consecutive win by having 41 franks and buns. The event is watched in person by an estimated 35,000 at Coney Island in Brooklyn. Next: July 4, 2018
