The Best Chef and Restaurant-Centric Panels at SXSW
[Travis P. Ball/Getty]
Add these panels & films to your schedule.
It's the beginning of South by Southwest, and that includes SouthBites, the food-focused segment of the interactive conference. The expanded line-up this year means there’s a whole lot of film screenings, panels, and discussions to sort through.
To make things easier, Eater Austin picked out some of the more intriguing highlights SXSW attendees shouldn’t miss. From the film based on Anthony Bourdain’s novel, hearing how Aaron Franklin figured out social media, looking at the new forms of restaurant reviews today, to examining intertwined relationship between technology and food, there’s something for everyone.
Also: The Ultimate Guide to SXSW Eating and Drinking
Friday, March 13
City of Gold screening
Los Angeles food critic Jonathan Gold got rid of his anonymous shroud in light of the documentary’s premiere earlier this year at Sundance. In the film, he explores the culinary landscape of the California city. If you can’t catch Friday’s premiere, there will be two other screenings as well.
For Grace screening
This documentary takes viewers on the journey of how Eater’s 2013 Chef of the Year Curtis Duffy came to open Grace in Chicago. There are two other screenings the following week, too.
Saturday, March 14
The Reinvented Food Festival: Sink or Swim panel
Take a closer look at what makes for a successful food festival with Bon Appetit editor in chief Adam Rapoport, co-founder of Feast Portland Mike Thelin, and others.
The Future Role of Tech in Dining and Food panel
New York City’s food golden boy and Momofuku owner/chef David Chang examines the parts food and technology play now.
Franchise: A Food Truck Evolution panel
Food trucks are a way in life in Austin. In this panel, The Peached Tortilla’s Eric Silverstein and other food truck owners will talk about how they turned their single trailers into something more.
Cooking at 2,400˚F conversation
Over at the GE BBQ Research Center (yes, such a thing will exist), Katie Button, who is both a chef at Asheville’s Curate and a chemical biomolecular engineer will talk to a GE about cooking at very, very, very hot temperatures.
How Food and Drink Drive Urban Planning Today panel
Food Republic’s Richard Martin, 2012 James Beard chef Sean Brock, and others will chat about the importance of making sure new building developments have food factors, through restaurants or markets.
Life’s a (Dinner) Party: Channeling Culinary Creativity panel
Imagine what kind of dinner party Paul Qui and Questlove would throw while they talk about how their obsessions with food drives them creatively in their endeavors.
Bone in the Throat screening
Based on Anthony Bourdain’s novel Bone in the Throat, Ed Westwick (better known as Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass) plays a chef who gets into a lot of trouble after witnessing a murder, all while cooking in the kitchen at the same time. Could this make way for a new genre: culinary murder thrillers? Catch two other screenings next week as well.
Sunday, March 15
Culinary Crossroads: Technique vs Technology panel
Learning how to cook nowadays is made easier with technology. Bon Appetit web editor Raphael Brion and others take a deeper look at how anyone can become super knowledgeable about food now with the plethora of technology aids and crutches.
Next Wave Coffee: Technology and the Way We Drink panel
Perfect the art of the ideal cup of coffee using the innovative tools available today, with Counter Culture Coffee, Food and Wine’s Lawrence Marcus, and others.
Building A Better Breakfast panel
Besides breakfast tacos, what will the future of the morning meal look like? Andrew Zimmern and panelists explore the potential options.
How Tech Lit The Flame For Celebrity Chef Culture panel
Aaron Franklin, who joined Instagram last month, is surely one of Austin’s most known chefs in the country. On this panel, he, Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton, and others will talk about how television and social media helped celebrity chefs grow bigger.
The Art and Science of Food Innovation conversation
The GE BBQ Research Center is bringing together Eater editor in chief Amanda Kludt, Questlove, and Modernist Cuisine’s Scott Heimendinger to chat about cutting edge changes in the food industry.
Changing the World Through Food: A Love Story panel
Love and food are the two bonds that have kept California-based Michael and Eileen Chiarello together. He helms Napa-based Bottega and San Francisco’s Coqueta, and she created Barnraiser, a Kickstarter-like venture for sustainable food and farming projects. The couple will talk about how they worked together to get where they are today.
Cracking Cuisine: Breaking a Few Rules (and Eggs) panel
Delve behind the art and science of Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine cook book volumes.
How to Build 3 Michelin Star Restaurants + Make a Doc panel
Find out how documentary For Grace got made with the chefs and filmmakers.
Monday, March 16
How Chef Watson Changed the Way We Prepare Food panel
Learn how IBM’s recipe generating app Chef Watson really works, and what it means for the future of the culinary industry.
72 Ways Food Can Change the World panel
Stemming from Eater’s pretty interactive feature on how food can do good in the world from last fall, Amanda Kludt will talk to Hot Bread Kitchen’s Jessamyn Rodriguez about the nonprofit’s work with immigrants and how these social changes can extend to the greater world.
Chef, Reviewer, Guest: Who’s Got the Power Today? panel
How do people discover new restaurants or food trends now with the changing way that people consume media? Newspaper reviews, Yelp, blogs, Twitter, the list could go on. Yahoo Food’s editor in chief and co-founder of Cherry Bombe Kerry Diamond, along with co-founder of restaurant review site The Infatuation, and John A. Hall, owner of Alabama’s Post Office Pies, discuss these impacts.
Making the Museum of Food and Drink panel
Nothing sounds better than a food museum, and that’s exactly what co-founder and cutting edge cocktail connoisseur Dave Arnold (who is also owner of New York’s Booker and Dax) is setting out to do with the Museum of Food & Drink. They’ll discuss why food is important for historical, cultural, and scientific reasons, as well as talking about their past edible exhibits, including a grain-puffing cannon. Arnold will also be whipping up techy drinks at a SXSW pop-up at Odd Duck later this evening.
Can Science and Data Influence the Future Taste of BBQ? conversation
Like a mini-barbecue summit at the GE BBQ Research Center, Aaron Franklin, Freedmen’s Evan LeRoy, Texas Monthly’s BBQ editor Daniel Vaughn and a GE scientist will talk about how science and technology will shape barbecue to come.
You Can’t Sit with Us: Craft Beer Subculture panel
The cult of craft beer is strong, as much as Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl ad would prefer otherwise. Hops & Grain’s Josh Hare, Bitch Beer’s Caroline Wallace, and others talk about the changing perception of craft beers.
Food Criticism in the Digital Age panel
Panelists including Eater’s feature editor Helen Rosner, Jonathan Gold, and Houston Chronicle’s Alison Cook will talk about the roles of food journalism in the digital world.
Tuesday, March 17
Sleep. Recover. Or attend the rest of SXSW.
