Seeing Red Wine Festival: Gulf Coast to Table Dinner

Seeing Red Wine Festival is bringing a fresh take to its time honored festival tradition by offering this inaugural Friday evening experience. Gulf Coast To Table Dinner takes place Friday, Nov. 10 featuring an elegant evening where wine aficionados and foodies will savor carefully selected Gulf-Coast-to-table dishes while sipping specially curated wines from Kokomo Winery and the SEASIDE Wine Project.  

Chef Ryan Smith of Atlanta’s Staplehouse Restaurant is guest chef for Friday evening’s Gulf-Coast-to-table dinner under the stars. Smith will join award-winning Seaside restaurateur Chef Jim Shirley for this exciting, new-to-Seaside event. Smith and Shirley will team up on Nov. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. to feature an elegant evening of locally sourced offerings, personally prepared and selected to complement highlighted wines for an exclusive experience.  

Ryan Smith is Chef/Partner at the award-winning Staplehouse restaurant in Atlanta. Originally from State College, Penn., he has called Atlanta home for 15 years. Smith took an interest in cooking while he was in college, working in the kitchens at Penn State University. He went on to attend The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and received his degree in 2000. From there, Smith moved to Atlanta to explore the history and traditions of the Southeast and gain experience working for some of the city’s best chefs.

Chef Smith has worked in some of Atlanta’s most prominent restaurants including Bacchanalia, Canoe, Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch, and Empire State South. Since opening in Sept. 2015, Staplehouse has been named a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant, Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurant in America, GQ’s Best New Restaurant, and Atlanta Magazine’s #1 Restaurant in Atlanta. Staplehouse is the for-profit subsidiary of The Giving Kitchen; a 501(c)3 that provides grant assistance to metro-Atlanta restaurant workers experiencing unanticipated hardship.

SEEING RED WINE FESTIVAL 2017
This fall, reds, whites, and rosés will be uncorked during Seeing Red Wine Festival, four days of wine and culinary events being held in Seaside Nov. 9 - 12, 2017. Now in its 27th year and recognized as one of the “Top 10 Can’t-Miss Fall Wine Festivals” by Fodor’s Travel, the festival draws attendees from around the world who make the trip to the iconic beach town a yearly tradition. Tickets are on sale NOW for the 27th annual SEASIDE Seeing Red Wine Festival!

This year’s festivities include Bud & Alley's Wine Dinner on Thursday evening, the Gulf Coast to Table Dinner on Friday, the Festival Grand Tasting on Saturday, and a Celebration Of Bubbles Brunch on Sunday, all in coveted Seaside style. Each year has been a sell-out event, and this year will be no exception. Proceeds will benefit the Seaside School Foundation and the Seaside Institute. 

Seeing Red Wine Festival Schedule of Events

Bud & Alley's Wine Dinner
Thursday, Nov. 9, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Bud & Alley's Restaurant | $175 per person
Bud & Alley's 2017 Seeing Red Vintner's Dinner kicks off Seeing Red Wine Festival on Thursday, November 9 at 6:30pm. Executive Chef David Bishop will create a special menu in collaboration with winemakers Gary Carr and Tony Leonardini of Nashville-based BNA Wine Group. Call to reserve your spot as soon as you can! 850-231-5900.

 
Seaside Seeing Red Wine Festival Gulf Coast to Table Dinner
Friday, November 10 | 6-8:30 PM | Seaside, FL - Central Square | Tickets: $300, increase to $350 on Oct 14
The Gulf Coast to Table Dinner will feature the best of Seaside's culinary talents with guest Chef Ryan Smith with SoWal's own Chef Jim Shirley, and perfectly paired wines - all under the stars with live music in Seaside!  Enjoy a weekend pass with access to both the high end dinner on Friday night and the exclusive Seeing Red Grand Tasting on Saturday ($500 tickets).

Seaside Seeing Red Wine Festival Grand Tasting 
Saturday, November 11 | 1-4 pm | Seaside, FL - Downtown Central Square | Tickets: $225 

Seaside’s Central Square will come alive with quality wines for tasting curated by Seaside’s own restaurants and eateries, hand-selected food offerings chosen by Seaside’s popular and well-known local chefs, as well as live music, and the opportunity to purchase wines on site. Tickets are all all an exclusive VIP experience. Tickets are limited!

 
Celebration of Bubbles  
Sunday, November 12 | 12 pm -2 pm | Seaside, FL - Lyceum Lawn
Tickets available online. $80 per person. Finish your weekend of great food and wine at the Seeing Red Wine Festival with the Celebration of Bubbles hosted by Chef Jim Shirley in the Seaside Lyceum. This sparkling event will be held on November 12, 2017 in the Seaside Lyceum from 12-2pm. Two hours of sampling sparkling wines from around the world, perfectly paired with a walkabout brunch. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Seaside School Foundation.

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Seaside Wine Festival 2015 Photos

Seaside, built on 80 acres on Florida’s Gulf Coast, is located on South Walton County’s Hwy. 30-A, on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. Acclaimed world-wide as one of the iconic examples of New Urbanism, Seaside offers a thriving town center with shopping and dining, all within walkable distance to homes, cottages and offices. Consisting of more than 400 homes, many of them vacation rentals, the community offers more than 12 restaurants and eateries, and 41 shops and galleries.

Seaside is featured in the following: Cooking Channel’s Emeril’s Florida, PBS “10 Towns that Changed America,” Frommer’s “Top 12 Destinations in the World,” Trip Advisor’s “15 Rising Vacation Rental Destinations for 2016,” Travel Channel’s “2015 Best Family Beach,” Travel + Leisure’s “Best Beach on Earth” for families (2014) and USA Today's "Top 10 Best Beach Towns in Florida (2013) by “Dr. Beach” to name a few. The holiday town was also the primary filming location of the classic movie “The Truman Show.”

A prominent topic in architectural schools and in housing-industry magazines, Seaside is visited by design professionals from throughout the United States, and is included in the American Institute of Architects (Florida chapter) list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years 100 Places.

For more information, visit www.seasidefl.com.

Read more at SoWal Towns: Seaside