James Beard Foundation Announces 10-City Taste America Culinary Tour

Courtesy of the James Beard Foundation (Clockwise from upper left): James Beard Foundation 5th Anniversary Taste America® All-Star Chefs are: Barbara Lynch, Daniel Boulud, Tony Mantuano, Ludo Lefebvre, Hugh Acheson, Marc Murphy,  Traci Des Jardins, Michael Voltaggio

Starting today, tickets for the James Beard Foundation's fifth annual Taste America national culinary tour are officially on sale with a portion of each ticket being donated to the Taste America Scholarship Fund, which helps aspiring cooks attend culinary schools around the country.

The cross-country event will visit ten cities across the United States this fall, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle. Additionally, the tour, which brings together celebrated chefs and fervent foodies for a series of delicious events, kicks off with an event hosted by JBF Taste America Honorary All-Star Thomas Keller at the James Beard House on August 2.

"More and more, we are hearing from our passionate community of culinary connoisseurs that they want our unique Beard House dining experience in their city," said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. "How exciting that we are in our fifth anniversary year and able to bring the best of the best chefs to diverse cities across the country."

The official start of the tour is September 22 in Phoenix and it will conclude in Kansas City on November 11. Along the way, each city's weekend-long program will feature a one-of-a-kind benefit dinner, called A Night of Culinary Stars, prepared by a traveling Taste America All-Star, a Local Star chef and a pastry chef. The Taste America All-Stars will include Hugh Acheson, Daniel Boulud, Traci Des Jardins, Ludo Lefebvre, Barbara Lynch, Tony Mantuano, Marc Murphy and Michael Voltaggio. Additionally, all of the Local Stars are former James Beard Award nominees and winners. The Taste America programming will also include free in-store events at select Sur La Table locations, featuring celebrity chef appearances, cooking demonstrations, book signings and tastings from local producers and artisans.

Visit the following link to buy tickets and see when the Taste America 2017 National Culinary Tour is visiting a city near you.