On April 27, it's going down: More than 40 Dallas restaurants will fill Centennial Hall with delicious dishes that enable you to taste fare from multiple eateries in one night without losing your hair in I-35 traffic. This annual tasting event has it all, baby: The ticket price covers entry, food (duh), wine/beer/cocktail sampling (double duh) and the Iron Fork Chef Competition, which will pit two big-name chefs against one another as they try to whip up something awesome on the fly using a basket of ingredients from Whole Foods. Kent Rathbun will moderate. Last year's dramatic tête-à-tête ended when 2016 James Beard semifinalist Matt McCallister (FT33) handed over the Iron Fork trophy to fellow 2016 James Beard semifinalist Omar Flores (Casa Rubia). Drama! Scandal! Excessive amounts of food and booze! Iron Fork is all about these things.
If you want in on this action (and you totally do), ticket presale starts today! Thursday, Feb. 25! At 10 a.m.! Head to ObserverIronFork.com and use the code FORK16 to snag presale tickets for $35 (general admission) or $65 (VIP). Snag tickets early — day-of tickets will set you back $55 (GA) and $90 (VIP). Just a few of the restaurants on the bill for this year's Iron Fork: Bridge Bistro, Jonathon's Oak Cliff, Antojitos Tacotento, Mozzarella Company, Tap and Tavern and WAY MORE. Did we mention there will be more than 40 restaurants? Because there will be more than 40 restaurants. If you're in the market for some baller status, grab VIP tickets, which will get you early admission at 6 p.m. for a food/booze sampling before everyone else arrives, complimentary valet before 6:30 p.m. and access to the VIP Lounge.
Iron Fork 2016
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27
Where: Centennial Hall at Fair Park, 1300 Robert B Cullum Blvd.
Tickets: Presale $35 (GA) and $65 (VIP) using the promo code FORK16 at ObserverIronFork.com.
Applicable hashtag (Obvs.): #IronForkDal
Apply to be a participating restaurant: Right here