The James Beard Foundation re-launched its traveling “James Beard Winners Food & Wine Festival” after a few years’ hiatus, starting in 2020. The Rancho Bernardo Inn served as the opening venue, and strong ticket sales for the San Diego-area premiere in early May 2025 ensure connoisseurs and James Beard Foundation fans find new ways to be wowed by innovative cuisine, bartending, and useful cooking and baking techniques to try at home. The eagerly-awaited rebirth of the culinary road show featured a hand-selected team of acclaimed American chefs and up-and-coming culinary talents showing off their award-winning artistry and showmanship.

During the premiere weekend, the fashionable five-star resort’s AVANT Restaurant, Chef’s Garden, cooking class kitchen, and other gardens around the property served as backdrops for a culinary exploration with some of America’s best chefs and bartenders. Activities leading up to the “Chef’s Tour” dinner, from the intimate opening mixer to a series of information-packed and entertaining seminars, embodied James Beard’s vision of bringing the best ideas from around the U.S. to an audience of serious foodies, home cooks, and members of Rancho Bernardo’s regular club members who made the extra effort to attend its roster of cultural and holiday events.

Jeff Black, chef, food event producer, and founder of JB Productions, was on hand to introduce the individual talents behind this event and provide attendees with the history of the James Beard Awards competitions and how they led to popular culinary festivals around the U.S. He added that future dinners across America, similar to this one and future “Celebrity Chef Tour” events, will help raise money for charities like “Share Our Strength” to combat childhood hunger and related issues.

Detroit-based Jimmy Schmidt, James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef-Greater Midwest, brought a scientific spin to a cooking demonstration of a multi-tasking rice recipe, with useful guidance on ensuring its ingredients retain their maximum nutritional value during preparation. Aaron Driver, Wine Curator, Educator, and founder of Carlsbad, CA’s Cork & Saber, took a personalized approach to the wine tasting conversation. Even with a typical tasting flight setup of a sparkling wine, a white, and two reds, it was an exchange of ideas rather than a lecture.

Manny Hinojosa, an 18-year Cazadores Tequila brand ambassador and internationally acclaimed mixologist (above), provided a history lesson on the evolution of the margarita cocktail as well as refreshing libations, some with ingredients from the chefs’ garden and local purveyors throughout the weekend. Rounding things out, reps from Wolff Industries offered avid home cooks knife skills basics and safety tips.

The “Chef Tour Dinner” ended the culinary whirlwind weekend with a cocktail reception and hors d’oeuvres presented by Chef Ron Fougeray, Corporate Executive Chef at Rancho Bernardo Inn parent company JC Resorts. The main event was a “best-of-the-West” showcase in six expressive acts. Texas native Chef Casey Thompson, best known for her turn as a finalist on the Food Network’s “Top Chef,” presented coal-warmed Olympia oysters, pork bone marrow, and golden osetra caviar, followed by Chef Schmidt’s re-constructed and Asian-influenced sea scallop and lobster ravioli in a savory ginger sauce topped with pasta pearls.

Chef Matt Vawter, winner of the 2024 “Best Chef Mountain States” title and chef at Breckenridge, Colorado’s Rootstalk Brek, followed with tortellini stuffed with pecorino and guanciale, adorned with morel mushrooms and green garlic. Chef Alex Seidel, the “Best Chef Southwest” winner from Denver, CO, served aged liberty duck breast on a bed of creamed ramps with granato rice and spring strawberries. Chef Ron Fougeray and Chef Ruffo Ibarra wowed with their wagyu New York steak, dressed with pomme puree, onion, potato crisp, and a serrano demi-glace.

Chef Mariia Tulchevska, who arrived in the U.S. with her family from Ukraine several years ago, showed how she hit the ground running with her bespoke cake business and wowed decision-makers at the James Beard Foundation with her whimsical “Cigar and Ashtray” dessert presentation constructed with aromatic chocolate, Bailey’s mousse, brown butter salted caramel, and burnt orange chocolate gelato.

“In the beginning, the competitions were broken down into four regions of the country,” detailed Black, who has a 17-year association with the James Beard Foundation and is still behind its most prestigious events. “In each region, noted food writers and chefs nominated who they thought were the best chefs in a given region. After narrowing the field to five finalists, they chose the winners. Many of those winners went on to become judges. One of the rules they need to follow is tasting the competing chefs’ dishes to validate who they voted for and why. This procedure works out great for our celebrity chef tours, allowing those chefs honored or nominated to introduce their food to a wider audience.”

After the debut James Beard Winners/“Chef Tour” dinner,  Black hinted that a 2026 edition of the James Beard Winners Food & Wine Festival is in the works. Until dates for this and other James Beard events in different parts of the U.S. are announced, connoisseurs can take advantage of several food and wine events at Rancho Bernardo Inn through the remainder of 2025. These include “Vine to Table” wine dinners dedicated to bottles from Italy, France, and specific producers. Other events include a “Garden to Glass” cocktail night, a “Taco + Tequila” event, and themed barbeques and cocktail pairing events.

AVANT, Rancho Bernardo Inn’s multi-award-winning fine dining restaurant (above), is regularly booked thanks to its artistic use of local produce and ingredients. The more casual Veranda serves up a diverse selection of solid American, Mediterranean, and Mexican dishes reflecting the San Diego palate. A lobster roll-soup combo regularly sells out, the burgers are nearly flawless, and plenty of salads and light dishes abound. The property also offers complimentary weekly tours of its Chef’s Garden, taking an immersive dive into the resort’s approach to farm-to-table dining and the cultivation of organic herbs, heirloom vegetables, and spices that feature prominently in all of its menus.

Photo: Rancho Bernardo Inn