Top Chefs and Sommeliers Are Coming to MAD for the 5th Southern Food & Wine Festival

Submitted by Murphy Arts District

EL DORADO, AR. (March 12, 2019) What happens when some of the most celebrated chefs and sommeliers from around the world come together for one night? You get the 5th Annual Southern Food & Wine Festival at Murphy Arts District (MAD). Building on last year’s highly regarded and sold out event, MAD’s Executive Chef Austin Johnson and Sommelier Eric Railsback have gathered nationally recognized guest chefs and sommeliers to create a memorable weekend. Over three days, Thursday, May 9th through Saturday, May 11th, MAD will present several food, wine and music events for your enjoyment. “We’re excited to bring world-class food and wine talents to MAD,” said Pam Griffin, MAD’s President and COO, “reinforcing our commitment to putting El Dorado on the map for crazy good music, food and fun.”

As with previous years, the 2019 version of the Southern Food & Wine Festival will combine music with great food and wine.

• Thursday Night Live (TNL) starts at 8:00 PM with Johnny Dilks and the Fugitives playing on the Griffin Restaurant cabaret stage. There is a $10 cover charge.

• The highly anticipated 5-course Southern Food & Wine Dinner takes place on Friday at 6:45 PM at the Griffin Restaurant with each course prepared by a different Executive Chef. The dinner is limited to 175 guests and costs $200 per person.

• Music continues late night Friday with a concert by the Tepusquet Tornados from Santa Maria Valley, California. The band consists of wine industry professionals and friends who came together over their love of performing. El Dorado’s own Madison ‘Maddog’ Murphy will be on guitar. The show starts at 9:15 PM and costs $10.00 per person. The concert cost is included in the price of the Friday night dinner.

• The Grand Tasting Wine Pour takes place on Saturday at 2:00PM in the MAD Amphitheater. The festivities will include a multi-winery wine pour and two musical performances during the day. The afternoon wine pour will include renowned wines from around the world. Tickets for entertainment and wine pour are $20 per person (and increase to $30 on the day of the event). The Wine Pour cost is included in the price of the Friday night dinner. Food will be available for purchase at the Griffin Restaurant or from several food trucks parked around the amphitheater. The artists’ schedule is as follows:
  • 2:15 The Mix
  • 3:45 Jeff Coleman & The Feeders

• Several workshops will be available in the Griffin Restaurant Saturday afternoon. The cost per workshop is $35 per person and they are limited to 46 people.
   
  •  1:00 PM – “Learn to taste like a Master Sommelier,” held by Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson. Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson will lead a discussion of the methods and thought processes used by wine professionals and sommeliers to identify the grape variety, vintage, region and, if you are really good, the winery/producer and exact vineyard from which the wines are sourced. Wilson is co-founder of Verve Wine, an online marketplace for sommelier-curated wines and is Wine Director of the three Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park.
     
  • 2:00 PM – “How to Cook like a Michelin-Starred Chef,” held by MAD’s Executive Chef Austin Johnson.  Great chefs develop recipes in part though consideration of regional flavors, local ingredients, and inspired presentations. Chef Johnson will share his process and tips, drawing from his time in some of the top US restaurants as well as the one Michelin-starred Frenchie in Paris.
     
  • 3:00 PM – “The Right Glass Improves Your Wine Experience,” held by a representative of Riedel, the wine glass company. Drinking wine is much more than popping the cork. Winemakers work with an array of flavors and aromas. The right glass can elevate your experience as the flavors and aromas hit your pallet and nose as they should. A representative from Riedel, the wine glass company, will explain the subtle but important distinctions in wine. Your workshop experience will be interactive with ample tasting to enhance your understanding.
     
  • The South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform Mozart and More in the First Financial Music Hall Saturday night at 7:30 PM to celebrate his 263rd birthday. Tickets are available from $15 to $40 per person.
     
  • The Griffin Restaurant will have live music on its cabaret stage Saturday night at 9:00 PM featuring Da Unit. This show is free to the public.

 

Guest Executive Chefs and Sommeliers

As of this writing three chefs and five sommeliers will work together to plan and prepare the five-course dinner for 175 people in the Griffin Restaurant, with each course being paired with a different wine. Tickets are $200 per person and includes entry to the Friday night concert by the Tepusquet Tornadoes and Saturday’s Grand Tasting Wine Pour. The chefs and sommeliers include:

Executive Chef Austin Johnson – Executive Chef of the Griffin Restaurant, and previously at Eleven Madison Park in New York City, Noma in Copenhagen, and NoMad in New York City. Most recently Johnson was Executive Chef of Frenchie in Paris, running three restaurants in Paris as well as Frenchie Covent Garden in London. Johnson is one of a small number of featured chefs at the 2019 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.  Chef Johnson’s recent stint at Frenchie resulted in the restaurant being awarded its first Michelin Star.

Master Chef Rafael Gomes –The Brazilian-born chef Rafael Gomes now runs Itacoa in the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris. Gomes, who has formerly cooked at Eleven Madison Park in New York City and on an Alaskan fishing trawler, has also been the chef at Restaurant Grand Coeur in Paris. (2 Michelin Stars). His creations, especially Mediterranean, also reflect his identity forged by his many places of life (Brazil, New York, France, China). In 2018, Rafael Gomes won MasterChef Professional in Brazil.

Chef De Cuisine Mike Reilly – Reilly joined upscale farm-to-table restaurant Ninety Acres in New Jersey, sourcing produce from the on-site farm and developing a passion for simple ingredients and refined experiences. He then moved to highly acclaimed Eleven Madison Park, but quickly was elevated by management to Chef De Cuisine at NoMad New York City. Chef Reilly has been awarded a Michelin Star and 5 New York Times Stars.

Sommelier Dustin Wilson – Dustin Wilson is a Master Sommelier based in New York City and co-founder of Verve Wine, an online marketplace for sommelier-curated wines with stores in both NYC and San Francisco. His career spans some of the top restaurants across the US – Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, The Little Nell, in Aspen; and RN74 in San Francisco. Dustin is best known for his position as Wine Director of the 3 Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park. This expertise led him to have a leading role in the critically acclaimed wine documentary, SOMM, and he was later featured in the film’s sequel, SOMM: Into the Bottle. 

Sabato Sagaria, Master Sommelier, President of bartaco - Over the past 20 years Sabato Sagaria has fulfilled culinary, beverage, and leadership roles at esteemed restaurants and hotels around the country including The Little Nell in Aspen, The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia, and The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. He currently serves as president of bartaco, overseeing 15 restaurants in 9 states that embody the beach culture of Brazil, Uruguay and Southern California.  In 2012, Sagaria became a member of the Court of Master Sommeliers, a prestigious honor held by fewer than 250 individuals worldwide.

Thomas Pastuszak, Sommelier and Wine Director of the NoMad Hotel - In 2011, Pastuszak took on the role of Wine Director at Chef Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Colicchio & Sons in New York City, and would soon thereafter join the team behind the world-renowned Eleven Madison Park to create The NoMad in Spring 2012.  He opened The NoMad as its Wine Director & helped it achieve its 3-Star New York Times rating within a few months of its opening, and now is Executive Wine Director of all the NoMad properties (with new locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas).  Thomas was chosen as one of the Best New Sommeliers of 2012 by Wine & Spirits Magazine, recognized as one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2013, and was named one of Food & Wine’s Sommeliers of the Year of 2015.  Most recently, he launched three exciting new wine labels: Terrassen in 2013, Empire Estate in 2014, and VINNY in 2018, all with a focus on New York's exciting upstate wine region, the Finger Lakes.

Sommelier Eric Railsback – Eric is a former Wine Director for the Mina Group in San Francisco and involved in various wine projects, including Railsback Freres, and assists Presqu’ile Winery with wholesale distribution. One of America’s foremost sommeliers, and a long-time evangelist for the wines of Santa Barbara County, Eric brings a wide and deep knowledge of the wine industry to the selection of the festival’s primary wines. In 2009, Eric joined Michael Mina’s renowned RN74 restaurant in San Francisco, where he ultimately led the sommelier team. At RN74, Eric oversaw a wine list that included a treasure trove of rare Burgundies, including verticals of DRC La Tâche and Comte de Vogüé Musigny stretching back to 1934. In 2012, Eric returned to Santa Barbara County to open Les Marchands, where he contributed to it being named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants. That same year, Eric was also honored as one of Food & Wine’s 2014 Sommeliers of the Year.

Sommelier Keegan Sparks – Keegan Sparks’ passion for the food and beverage industry began just after college with his first restaurant job at 28 Springs in Siloam Springs. From there he transitioned back to his home town Little Rock taking a job at South on Main and becoming Certified Sommelier while there. Most recently he did a stint in retail wine sales at O’Looney’s Wine & Liquor learning a different side of the industry. Now Keegan is back in the restaurant game as Service Director of the Griffin Restaurant in El Dorado. When he’s not working you can find him cooking with friends or tinkering with his home carbonation rig trying to make the perfect glass of seltzer water. The thing that makes him most excited is traveling to new wine regions and the opportunity to learn first-hand about the winemaking process.

Tickets will be available to all events at 10:00 AM on Monday, March 18th for MAD members, and on Wednesday, March 20th for the general public.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.eldomad.com, by phone at 870-444-3007, or in person at the MAD box office at 101 East Locust Street, El Dorado, AR. For more details visit www.eldomad.com. 

About El Dorado, Ark. & Murphy Arts District

MAD, a production of El Dorado Festivals & Events, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to create and sustain an arts and entertainment destination that acts as a catalyst for cultural and educational change for the region. It relies on the generous support of individuals, corporations, and foundations to develop and sustain programs that improve the quality of life in the community and region.

El Dorado, Ark., also known as “the City of Gold” is a former oil boom town and a rising arts destination. Home to a 1920s oil rush that brought a flurry of industry to “Arkansas’ Original Boomtown.” The city also has had significant investments in economic development, education and corporate community sponsorship with forthcoming investments, including the notable El Dorado Promise, a unique college scholarship program established by Murphy Oil Corporation providing local El Dorado High School graduates tuition at any accredited two-and four-year educational institution in the U.S.

Media Contacts
Bob Tarren
El Dorado Festivals & Events, Chief Marketing Officer
[email protected]