The Posh Dallas Arboretum Food and Wine Fest Returns This Weekend

The Dallas Arboretum Food and Wine Fest returns this weekend, but this year, the festival will be a three-day affair with tastings, classes, cooking demos and panels. It will also include The Chef’s Garden’s Roots on the Road, a conference with four one-hour interactive panels covering everything from the future of farming to work-life balance, sustainability in food and current food trends.

The fest is broken down into several parts. On Thursday evening, the Grand Tasting will include food from more than 40 Dallas restaurants, including Cane Rosso, Taco y Vino, Izkina, Jose, Trompo, Jalisco Norte and Meat Church. Diners can sample bites from restaurants, complemented by ample wine pours, while wandering the pre-spring gardens of the Arboretum. Tickets aren't cheap — $150 GA for non-members, $250 for the "patron experience" — and general admission tickets are running low, according to the Arboretum.

On Friday morning, chef Peter Barlow will hold a master class on turning leftovers into lunch, where attendees will "learn modernist techniques in the modern kitchen, healthy guidelines and moldy myths, recipes, stories and more," according to the Arboretum. Tickets are $65. That afternoon, cookbook author Mary Chamberlin will host a free class focused on recipes from her restaurants and home kitchen. There's also a Vintner's Dinner on Friday night with food from chefs like Bruno Davaillon, Matt McCallister and Janice Provost, but those tickets will set you back $500, making it well outside many foodies' budgets.

All day Saturday, the Chef’s Garden’s Roots on the Road conference will hold several panels — we'll be moderating a 4 p.m. panel about 2019 food trends to watch. The evening ends with cocktails and a Waste Not, Want Not Dinner with Barlow. An all-day ticket to the panels and dinner is $150.

Along with chefs and restaurateurs, a number of local farms will be featured throughout the fest: Profound Farms, Rae Lili Farm, Bonton Farms, LaBajada Urban Youth Farms and Cartermere Farms.

For more details, a schedule and tickets, head to the Arboretum's website.

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, 8525 Garland Road (East Dallas)