If you have been around Black Girls Who Brunch for awhile, you know that I love a good food festival. I started attending local festivals here in Houston and overtime branched out to others like the Family Reunion and Charleston Wine & Food. But each time I talked about festivals everyone said, the MOTHA of festivals is the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. I added it to my bucket list some years ago and cannot believe I finally got to go this year. A month after the tenth anniversary of my blog and on my birthday weekend! It was such a great experience. Here are my 11 Takeaways from the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.
Its a Marathon NOT a Sprint
You will have several times to go through the grand pavilion tents with the consumer pass, take your time.
We purchased consumer passes which gave us access to seminars and the Grand Pavilion tent. Over the course of three days, you have a chance to attend five seminars and visit the Grand Pavilion five different times as well. During our first pass through the Grand Pavilion tent for wine and food samples, we felt this pressure to run around and try everything in the two hour allotted time. We quickly learned that a leisurely pass was preferred and necessary. If you miss something, you likely will see it again during a later trip to the tents. Three days at that elevation is a long time, take your time.
I’m Leaving Here with Something
We made sure to sign up for the seminars that had samples.
Given the cost of the event, 3k this was our motto throughout the event. I am getting ALL my monies worth! Because of that, we went to every single seminar and tasting at the grand pavilion. By the second stop through the tent, we had it figured out. The vendors are the same the whole time, but many will offer different bites each session. We also figured out, the bites are on the outside area of the tent which was helpful. They were lighter on the giveaways compared to other events, however I do feel like the value was there. At times, it almost felt like TOO much, but I will not complain.
Top Chef Fan? You will LOVE this!
Food & Wine has a partnership with the Bravo cooking show, Top Chef. As such, most of the talent you will see during the event are previous winners or top contestants on the show going back years. Many of them will host seminars and you will see the at some of the big booths in the Grand Pavilion. My one critique though, you do not get too many opportunities to eat food from these top chefs, but the seminars they host are still a great experience.
The Altitude and Allergies
Other tip, avoid the alcohol on your first day. With the change in altitude you can definitely feel the difference.
I came prepared for the altitude issues. I flew into Denver and had a longer layover with the hopes that it would help me acclimate bit. Brought a bunch of medicines from Dramamine to some vitamins that claimed to help. Ultimately, I did not feel the typical altitude sickness symptoms like nausea or dizziness. What I did not expect however, the crazy allergies that summer Aspen brings! There is something called dogwood floating around that piles up like snow on the ground. This about took me out! There were points where I could not take a deep breath, so I had take oxygen and load up on allergy meds. Come prepared.
Add Element 47 to your list!
I found Element 47 on the Michelin recommended list for Aspen. Located in Hotel Jerome, this restaurant will be a hot spot for celeb sightings and most importantly good food! We had dinner here on the first night and enjoyed everything. Our favorite dish though was probably the ravioli and the cocktail selections were great too.
Stay Downtown
Everything for Food & Wine happens in downtown Aspen. Seminars are hosted in the best local hotels (St. Regis, Limelight, Hotel Jerome) and the festival grounds for the Grand Pavilion tent is right in that area is as well. These hotels are pricy, but have a nice boutique feel. We stayed at the Inn at Aspen which is closer to the airport. Despite the construction issues which were not clearly explained at checkin, it’s an okay cheaper option. They also have a free shuttle that will take you around the city until 10:30pm. This was great because ubers and other transportation was difficult. Even with that convenience, we all said staying downtown where everything was walking distance would have been a better move.
Mawa’s Kitchen is a must stop!
I knew we would be limited on restaurant stops because of all of the food festival events. So I arrived a bit early on Juneteenth and made sure to stop by the lone Black owned restaurant in Aspen, Mawa’s Kitchen. On top of being Black owned, the owner Mawa McQueen has so many accolades including Michelin and a James Beard nomination. I went for lunch and was so impressed by the food at this casual spot. Everything from the whipped chevre to the chicken sandwich were exceptional. Check out my reel from my visit.
Aspen while Black
Each time I post about an event like this, I get questions about traveling to places like Aspen as a Black person. My motto is always go where you want to go! I acknowledge this trip was made easier by the fact that I traveled within a group of five, Black women. While there though we met lots of other Black folks and abided by the obligatory head nod rules. I will say most of the other Black people were talent, exhibitors etc. We did hnot see many others who had a consumer pass like us. Regardless, you should not let that stop you.
Also, Food & Wine features so many great Black chefs and sommeliers including Julia Coney, Mawa McQueen, Tiffany Derry and Kwame Onwuachi. There were enough Black talent that you could curate an all Black list of seminars to attend Within the tents, there are typically quite a few Black owned wine brands as well, this year we sampled wines from Ayesha Curry and Darius Rucker.
Aspen 75 Degrees is not Houston 75 Degrees
As we got closer to our trip, I checked the weather, saw the high was about 75 degrees and completely changed the clothes I had packed. In Houston, at sea level, 75 degrees has a bit of a chill. I generally need a jacket. Well in Aspen, that 75 degrees felt like I was touching the sun, likely due to the elevation. It was SO hot! I would recommend lighter attire for the outdoor events like the tents (ex: linen). There is also a lot of walking, so comfortable shoes would be best. I would even say bring several, so you can switch it up everyday.
Add On Events
In addition to your consumer pass (remember its 3k), there are a few add on events that generally take you to the top of the mountain with amazing views. Or so I am told! We did not do any of these because many of them were hosted at the same time as the events included with our pass or on the pricer side. For example one of the events with some of the top talent from the show Top Chef cost about $600. If you can splurge, I imagine it is worth it as well.
The Afterparty
As you can imagine after the official festival events people are always looking for the after parties. There are a lot of industry parties that I feel like catered to industry people. We had a hard time finding out about these, but thankfully industry friends kept us in the loop. What I found though, people assume if you have made it to Aspen you are supposed to be there. So a lot of places were not to stringent on the official “lists.” Our favorite spot during our trip was the speakeasy Bad Harriett in the Hotel Jerome. Once we took over the aux cord, we had a TIME!
Another after party event we attended was Global Fire at the Smugglers Mine. This was a tasting event that highlights sustainability. Guests were treated to tastings cooked with live fire at the mine. There were even some tastings inside of the mine. I ate some great bites while in Aspen but Global Fire hands down had the best bites for the weekend. I did not make it to the top of the mountain, but the views from here were pretty good too.
All and all, Aspen Food & Wine Classic was a great time! It is on the pricier side, however I think the value is there with the seminars and the tents. Aspen of course is such a unique city and visiting in the summer is great too. I hope to do a post comparing some of the major festivals I’ve attended if you are debating which one you should attend.
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