Barbados Food, Wine, and Rum Festival 2013

Barbados Food, Wine and Rum Festival 2013

Barbados is an island renowned for its party lifestyle and numerous festivals. Along with ‘Cropover’ in the summer, the Barbados Food, Rum & Wine Festival is one of the biggest of the year. The weekend celebration takes place from the 22nd to the 25th of November in 2013. It’s the perfect time to visit the island for a fun and festive break. The festival features numerous cooking demonstrations from international and local chefs, wine seminars and rum tastings as well as lots of festive parties.

Food and International Chefs

The festival has a reputation as ‘Fine Food for Epicureans’ and the 2013 line up is no exception with five international chefs cooking up a storm. Chef Aaron McCargo JR hosts his own ‘Food Network’ show called ‘Big Daddy’s House’ after winning season four of the ‘Next Food Network Star’ in 2008. He had also appeared on numerous American talk shows, founded his own charity, is the author of a cookbook and has his own restaurant in Camden, New Jersey. Chef Anne Burrell has worked in some of the top restaurants in New York, has written a New York Times bestseller called ‘Cook Like a Rock Star’ and stars in numerous ‘Food Network’ shows including ‘Secrets of a Restaurant Chef’ and ‘Chef Wanted’.

Chef Jose Garces operates over a dozen restaurants across the USA as well as a catering business. He had written two cookbooks and grows much of the products he uses for his restaurants on a 40-acre farm in Philadelphia. He is one of the few chefs to hold the title of ‘Iron Chef’ with numerous appearances on the highly viewed show ‘Iron Chef America’ on the ‘Food Network’.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson is famous for being the Executive Chef at ‘Aquavit’ restaurant, New York, where he was given a three-star rating by the New York Times, the youngest person ever to achieve this rating at the time. He has appeared on numerous talk shows and won ‘Bravo’s Top Chef Masters’ season two. He was a guest chef at the White House under the Obama administration where he planned and carried out a state dinner for over four hundred guests which included the first family and the Prime Minister of India. Chef Mark Mcewan is the Head Judge on ‘Top Chef Canada,’ he has written two bestselling cookbooks, owns two catering companies and a 20,000-foot gourmet food store in Toronto. He also consults on major restaurant concepts and has had his own show on the ‘Food Network Canada’.

2013 Dine Around Program and Bajan Chefs

Over twenty Bajan Chefs will be participating in the festival and will be giving a glimpse into the Bajan way of cooking specialising in their own signature dishes. Many of the local Bajan restaurants will be featuring in the 2013 Dine Around Program which will offer special dishes during the festival of the most riveting and authentic Bajan cuisine. These include the upscale fine dining restaurants to the more casual ‘local joints’.

Wine Seminars

Joshua Wesson, a world-class and highly respected Sommelier will be the master wine and spirits expert at the festival. He owns a chain of award-winning wine stores and is a regular guest contributor to CBS and CNN. He is on hand at the festival and is the ultimate guest speaker for oenophiles. He will be giving a series of wine seminars on the Monday of the festival at the Hilton Barbados Resort.

Rum and Parties

Some of the major highlights of this year’s festival include the ‘Mount Gay Rum Tour’ in St. Michael on Monday as well as the Flagship event the ‘Ambrosia IV’ on Saturday night. The ‘Ambrosia IV will feature the ‘Food Network’ international chefs, nine local Bajan Chefs, lots of wines, champagne and cocktails, food stations and live music for the perfect Bajan festival atmosphere. The ‘Indulgence Cruise’ is a culinary delight which includes sailing aboard the ‘Spirit of Barbados Luxury Catamaran’ while savouring fine dining cuisine.

A full schedule and tickets are available on the festival website. One of the best ways to enjoy it is to avail of a luxury villa for a week or two to relax after the festival and enjoy all that Barbados has to offer.

Author Bio: Alexandra Baradi is the Founder and Owner of Exceptional Villas, the top choice for luxury villa rentals in the world’s most beautiful places. She has been in business for over 21 years and regularly blogs about the luxury hospitality market.

About Alexandra Baradi

Alexandra Baradi is the founder and owner of Exceptional Villas. She started the company 1992. Alex is a hotel manager by background and has travelled around the world in search of the best villas.

Her personal passion for travel and her entrepreneurial flair for making guest feel very special from the moment they enquire to the moment they arrive home, has enabled Exceptional Villas to become the world’s leader in luxury villas.

She believes anything is possible when you travel with Exceptional Villas and ensures you will be pampered every step of the way.

Alexandra and her team all have one thing in common; to provide their guests with an unmatched holiday experience and to go beyond expectations.

Each of the team members specialise in just one destination rather than in multiple destinations allowing them to become total experts in their fields.

Both Alexandra and her team spend much of their time travelling to all the destinations inspecting new villas and re-inspecting already featured villas.

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