Charlotte StrEATs Tasting Tour

The StrEATs Tasting Tour returns!

Festival-goers will taste their way through Charlotte’s iconic neighborhoods enjoying tastes from 20 restaurants. These restaurants are all locally-owned and are chosen specifically because their food is some of the best in the city.

Attendees will enjoy bites from each while sipping on craft cocktails and listening to live music. The event will take place at Gateway Village in the heart of Uptown.

The Charlotte StrEATs Festival has announced this year’s celebrity guest will be Chef Aarón Sánchez. Aarón is an award-winning chef, TV personality, author and philanthropist. His television career spans over two decades starring on hit shows such as Food Network’s Chopped and the Emmy-nominated series Taco Trip. 

Aarón will make an appearance at both events over the StrEATs Weekend. On Sunday, April 14th, he will be doing a cooking demonstration as well as emceeing the StrEATs Neighborhood Cook-off finale at Gateway Village.

VIP ticket holders get 1-hour early access at 11 a.m., an official StrEATs Cookbook featuring recipes from participating restaurants, a copy of Chef Aarón Sánchez’s memoir, Where I Come From: Life Lessons from a Latino Chef (with a chance to get it signed), and a StrEATs canvas tote bag filled with goodies.

Aarón is a co-star of MasterChef and MasterChef Junior on FOX and the host/executive producer of El Toque de Aarón on Discovery Familia and Hogar de HGTV. A James Beard Award winner, Aarón is the chef/owner of several restaurants throughout the U.S. including Johnny Sánchez, Showbird and Adobo Cantina.

This will be the third year the StrEATs Festival has brought the world’s most celebrated culinary talent to the Queen City. In its inaugural year the festival featured Chef Amanda Freitag and last year it featured Chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

The Charlotte StrEATs Festival is part of Charlotte SHOUT!

New this year! The Charlotte StrEATs Uncorked event will highlight North Carolina’s unique wine regions and regional cuisines.

On Wednesday, April 3rd, eleven North Carolina vineyards will sample their wines, with food from chefs who represent North Carolina’s regional cuisines, from barbecue to fish camp fare. The event will be held at Johnson & Wales University from 6- 9 p.m. Guests will also be able to sip and learn with programming in the auditorium, including a tasting with Charlotte sommelier Joshua Villapando, and overviews of grapes that thrive in our state. 

The event will also include live music from Troy Conn. The Charlotte StrEATs Festival is part of Charlotte SHOUT!

THE WINE
We are excited to show off these North Carolina Vineyards representing four different AVAs. Participating vineyards are: Childress Vineyards, Cypress Bend Vineyards, The Farm at Dover Vineyards, Goldenroad Vineyards, Grove Vineyards & Winery, Haze Gray Vineyards, JOLO Winery & Vineyards, Marked Tree Vineyard, Raffaldini Vineyards, Shadow Springs Vineyard, and Shelton Vineyards.

THE FOOD

• N.C. Cuisine: BBQ, Chef Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ
• N.C. Cuisine: Meat & Three, Chef Greg Collier of 3rd and Fernwood
• N.C. Cuisine: Fish Camp, Chef Craig Deihl of Hello, Sailor
• N.C. Cuisine: Appalachian, Chef Brian Campbell of Johnson & Wales University

LEARN MORE AND TICKETS: Visit cltstreatsfestival.com/uncorked. Follow on Instagram @cltstreatsfestival and #CLTStrEATsFestival. For more information about activities at Charlotte SHOUT!, visitcharlotteshout.com.