James Beard Foundation's Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner

New this year, award-winning James Beard Foundation Chefs offer the ultimate culinary tour de force at Hilton Head Island’s first ever Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner, Thursday, February 22 at Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort. VIP Premier Patron tickets for the dinner include a private “Meet & Greet” Champagne reception with hors d’oeuvres from local Hilton Head Island and Bluffton chefs. The dinner will feature six courses from celebrity and James Beard Foundation, award-winning and nominated chefs – which will each be paired with wines from winemakers and sommeliers from around the world.

Headlining the dinner will be celebrity chef, restauranteur, author and television personality Maneet Chauhan. Chauhan is the executive chef and co-owner of Chauhan Ale & Masala House in Nashville, Tennessee. She a recipient of the 2012 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award for her role as a judge on food Network’s “Chopped,” and sits on the show’s permanent panel of judges. She has also written her own cookbook, Flavors of My World. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Chauhan worked in some of the finest hotels in India before the start of her professional career in the States.

Tickets are available online now for the Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner and the entire Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival, February 19-25, 2018. The coastal region’s weeklong gourmand experience offers a heady mix of top chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, local seafood, artisans and musicians, who come together for an outstanding epicurean offering of palate-pleasing events. 

This special evening offers an extraordinary get-up-close experience with innovative leaders in the culinary world today, including fourth-generation restaurateur Jimmy Bannos Jr., Chef/Partner of Chicago’s renowned The Purple Pig, and Chef Martín Rios of Santa Fe’s award-winning Restaurant Martin. Area chefs include Executive Chef Hayden Haddox and Pastry Chef Selena Delaney of the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort, Chef/Owner Clayton Rollison of Hilton Head Island’s Lucky Rooster Kitchen + Bar, Executive Chef/Partner Brandon Carter of FARM Bluffton and Executive Chef, Matthew Roher of The Sea Pines Resort.

The 11th annual Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival, hosted by the David M. Carmines Memorial Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, helps raise funds for non-profit organizations including the Coastal Discovery Museum, Port Royal Sound Foundation, Gullah Heritage Museum, Island Recreation Scholarship Fund, and the Medical University of South Carolina.

An appreciation of food and drink that reflects Southern cuisine, heritage and culture, the festival celebrates our bountiful Lowcountry setting, with an opportunity to get up close, both on the water and around the burning fire embers of reigning pitmasters. Schedule highlights include:

• Monday’s Lowcountry Seafood Experience on the Water takes off from Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, a two-hour excursion that includes instruction on shrimping, oystering, clamming, and crabbing with the Lowcountry’s foremost watermen, Christopher and Matthew Shoemaker.
• Celebrating the best of traditions, Thursday’s Pitmaster 101 at Waddell Mariculture Center offers a chance to learn from guest Pitmasters as they prepare for the Pig Pickin’ & Oyster Roast event on Friday evening from 6-9pm. This quintessential southern gathering brings the Island’s best chefs, celebrity guest chefs and Pitmasters together to prepare local shrimp, whole hogs, chickens and chopped BBQ, washed down with brews, wines, signature drinks and live music.
• Saturday host the main event – the 11^th Annual Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival at Historic Honey Horn Plantation, from 11am-5pm. The family-friendly event features area restaurants and chefs serving up seasonal specialties, seafood and other tasty cuisine, a Kids Zone, curated artisans from around the south and live music. Participating restaurants include American Culinary Federation, Benny Hudson’s, Black Marlin, B’s Cracklin BBQ, The Crab Group, The Crazy Crab, Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, Mellie Mel’s, The Old Oyster Factory, SERG Restaurant Group, Hilton Head Ice Cream and more.
• Sunday’s Seafood and Champagne Brunch is the festival at its best, as live music, a Bloody Mary Bar and brunch create the perfect waterfront venue, featuring a special menu of classics along with new innovations, some bubbly and a fresh raw bar for a full-on flavor experience.

To purchase tickets and for more details go to HiltonHeadSeafoodFestival.com.