The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to announce the official schedule for the upcoming Wine, Food & Art Festival. This will be the sixth installment of the festival that celebrates the talents of both local and international guest chefs, paired with wines and champagnes from regions around the world, as well as an art exhibition featuring a diverse selection of works from our local art community.
The festival kicks off with the Best Chef Competition on Thursday, June 7th with a limited-seating dinner in the resort’s Pago Pago restaurant that will feature teams of local chefs from some of Aruba’s top restaurants and resorts competing in various categories judged by both a panel of experts as well as guests attending the event. All courses throughout the evening will be paired with specially selected wines. Tickets for this event are $85 per person and must be purchased in advance at Westin’s concierge desk.
On Friday, June 8th, Aruba’s up-and-coming talent from EPI school will compete for best dish as judged by their expert peer’s from Thursday evening’s event. This Wine & Food Tasting & Art Exhibition, hosted by Westin Executive Chef Matt Boland, is offered in an open-house setting, allowing guests to mingle and browse local works of art curated by Jan van Straaten from the resort’s Starwood Gallery. Local wine purveyors will be on hand, sharing some 60 different wine selections from around the world paired with tastings of the student’s dishes. This general admission event, held from 7pm to 11pm, is reasonably priced at just $35 per person and tickets can be purchased at the door that evening.
The finale event of the festival is Saturday evening, June 9th. The “Capturing the Champagne Sparkle” gala will feature guest chefs Guy Anderson and Jeff Mekolites from the famed Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Atlanta, Georgia. The chef duo will prepare an exquisite five-course menu paired with both Moët &Chandonand Dom Pérignonchampagnes. Tickets for this exclusive event are $140 per person and can be purchased in advance at the Westin concierge desk.
