Festival News

3 foodie festivals featuring chiles and chocolate coming to Dallas this summer

Here's a festival that seems worth attending.

Photo by Bret Redman

Festivals are automatically fun, the very word itself feels like a celebration, and Dallas has three with a foodie theme in the works.

The strict definition of festival is "a day or period of celebration." At least two of these three events are, at best, using the word loosely. But there's no reason to let that stand in the way of a roundup. We love roundups.

All three are returning events, with two dedicated to Hatch chiles and one dedicated to chocolate. Here are three "festivals" coming to Dallas this summer.

August 1-31: 26th Annual Hatch Festival at Blue Mesa Grill

Blue Mesa Grill has come a long way from the early days when they would send a driver to Hatch, New Mexico to fill a truck with fresh chiles and deliver them to their restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth. Rare back then, Hatch chiles are ubiquitous now. But the chain has stayed true to its original goal – to serve fresh chiles in chile rellenos, salsa, or fried with a sauce for dipping.

This year's specials include:

Fried Hatch strips with ancho mayo
Hatch Cheese Relleno and Steak Taco Combo
Hatch Rellenos – cheese with a blue corn crust, smoked chicken, and garlic-basil shrimp (pick two $14 or three $16)
Santa Fe BBQ Brisket or Smoked Chicken Stacked Enchiladas
Hatch Cajeta Swirl Brownie with vanilla ice cream and berries
Hatch Pineapple Margarita with Casamigos silver tequila and grilled pineapple

They also have family-size taco and relleno combos, plus a pan of Hatch Cajeta Swirl Brownies.

New for 2022 is a Hatch Brunch featuring Hatch specials on the buffet brunch on Saturday at Addison and Plano is from 10 am-2 pm; Sunday brunch is at Addison, Plano, and Fort Worth, 10 am-3 pm.

August 3-23: "Hatchstock" 22 - 27th Annual Hatch Chile Festival at Central Market

Central Market celebrates the green chile pepper from Hatch, New Mexico, with in-store events, cooking classes, products, recipes and more.

All stores will be hosting a free tasting event on Friday, August 5 from 5-8 pm with 10 food and wine stations, including Hatch crab cakes with Hatch buttermilk ranch, Haystack Mountain Chile Jack Cheese on new toasted Hatch Brioche, Hatch pepper meatballs with Hatch queso, and Hatch lemonade, plus a $10 coupon to use that evening and collectible Hatch chile stickers; pre-register on the Cooking School page.

New products in stores for 2022 include:

Hatch Green Chile Cheddar Kettle Heroes popcorn
Christie’s Hatch Chili Supernatural Potato Chips
D’Vine Cookies (women owned): Hatch lime with chocolate chips (CM exclusive)
Green Chile Smokehouse Awesome Sauce (Veteran owned) – with the tang of vinegar and the sweet heat of Hatch
Joey Chestnut Wing Sauce: Green Hatch and Jalapeno – a rich, smoky flavor with a slight Hatch kick
Bloody Revolution Hatch Chile (limited release) Bloody Mary mix – made exclusively for Central Market and only available for Hatch 2022
Dee Amoré: Hatch green chile and uncured bacon potato skins
Queso Mama: white queso with diced green chiles
Hatch Chili Chicken Tamales from Irving-based Madrina Tamales
Hatch pepper cheddar biscuits
Hatch pepper Brioche buns
Hatch Ranch dressing
Hatch lemonade
Hatch chicken salad
Hatch margarita mix

September 9-11: The Dallas Chocolate Festival

The Dallas Chocolate Festival is back again as an in-person three-day event, taking place at F.I.G. in downtown Dallas (which has been the location for CultureMap Dallas' annual Tastemaker Awards), offering a first-hand taste into the world of chocolate from the process to the packaging, featuring local shops and world-renowned makers, samples, expertise, and sweets.

While the festival is returning to an in-person event, online festival experiences through video events and real-time chats will also be available. Festival events include:

Dallas Chocolate Conference, Friday, September 9 from 10 am–4 pm. New to the festival, the Dallas Chocolate Conference is designed for professionals who work with chocolate or those aspiring to do so professionally. The conference includes networking opportunities and classes covering advanced chocolate topics regarding equipment, services, ingredients, sourcing and more.

Dallas Chocolate Festival - VIP Night, Friday, September 9, from 7-10 pm. A night of boozy beverages and first look into the magic of the festival, the VIP night is the premium preview into the world of chocolate.

Dallas Chocolate Festival - Main Event, Saturday, September 10, from 10 am-5 pm. Full day of chocolate demos and classes. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased here.

Dallas Chocolate Festival – Experiences, Sunday, September 11, from 8 am-5 pm. Includes:

Chocolate Bean to Bar Workshop by Ben Rassmussen of Potomac Chocolate
Tea & Chocolate Pairings by Albert from Fifth Dimension Chocolates
Whiskey & Chocolate Pairings by Yeli Marshall, owner of Yelibelly Chocolates

The list of exhibitors includes Madhu Chocolate, Xocolla, Springboard, Fruition Chocolate Works, Mission Chocolate, 5 Mile Chocolate, Potomac Chocolate, 9th & Larkin, Argencove, Dr. Sue’s Chocolate, Kate Weiser Chocolate, Mademoiselle Miel, Wiseman House Chocolates, Goodies Texas, CinfulSweets, Golden Eye Chocolates, The Touring Chocolatier, La Goulue Chocolatier, Yelibelly Chocolates, Effie’s Homemade, TCF Sales, My French Recipe, Chocotastery, Dallas College, Cambie, and AUI Fine Foods.

Tickets range from $25 to $100 and can be purchased online.

festivals

Convention News

Reducetarian Summit had to be unlikeliest convention in Dallas ever

Reducetarian Summit

Dallas likes to promote itself as a great place to host conventions, but one of the most unpredictable would have to be the Reducetarian Summit, which took place at the end of October at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas, where 500 people from around the world met to brainstorm on ways to reduce consumption of animal products.

Unpredictable because Dallas' favorite cuisine is the steakhouse, and Texas is famous for its consumption and production of meat, including being the top beef producer in the U.S. Yee-haw meat, and all that.

So, not the friendliest setting for an event that advocates cutting back on meat — but that was the point, said Reducetarian founder Brian Kateman.

"We could go to New York or Los Angeles, and draw a bigger crowd, and we have done that," Kateman said. "But we want to go to the places where these ideas are not yet as popular."

Kateman founded the organization in 2015 with a goal to reduce consumption of red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. The key word is "reduce," and it's a controversial stance for vegans who abstain from animals entirely — some of whom protest the concessions that the Reducetarian stance allows.

The Reducetarian outlook is pragmatic, with an awareness that an all-or-nothing approach can be intimidating. Kateman's theory, which he also published in a book called The Reducetarian Solution, is that a more flexible attitude that encourages "less" rather than "none" has the potential to win over more converts.

In his keynote speech, he emphasized four major points:

Getting a lot of people to reduce consumption has a bigger impact than getting a small number of people to swear off entirely.
It's about incremental change. The idea is to "celebrate and not berate".
All motivations matter — whether you're trying to stop cruelty or get healthier or save the environment, they're all equally good reasons.
The Reducetarian movement works to be an umbrella to all efforts: vegetarianism, veganism, pescetarianism, flexitarianism.

The three-day conference included panels, lightning talks, workshops, and fireside chats, with tech entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, journalists, environmentalists, animal advocates, nutritionists, academics, students, and non-profits, with nearly 100 speakers, panelists, and exhibitors.

That included a number of Texans such as Troy Gardner, owner of TLC Cafe in Richardson, Brandon Waller of Bam's Vegan, and Brett Christoffel from All Y'All's Foods, maker of It's Jerky Y'all vegan jerky, plus professors from TCU, University of Texas, and even Texas A&M.

Topics included buzzy concepts such as "blended meat," the practice of combining meat with other ingredients to use less meat, such as a burger made with ground beef and diced mushroom. There were talks on how factory farming affects workers and communities, documented so effectively in the 2022 filmThe Smell of Money, and a panel called "Waste Not, Want Not: How to Decrease Animal Products That Aren't Even Eaten" (leather etc.).

One of the best parts of the event was the emphasis on networking, with different techniques to help people connect including creating makeship groups of 10 people, who would introduce themselves and share their reason for attending. It gently "forced" everyone to interact, resulting in a sense of community that was a valuable takeaway. I may have only exchanged a sentence or two with Nitish Pahwa, writer from Slate, or Cameron Harsh, director of programs at World Animal Protection, but I feel like I know them now.

Last but not least was the food, with an expo showcasing plant-based, fermented, and cell-cultured food and related services.

This was the 10th anniversary of the event, and Kateman said that even as someone who'd been involved from the beginning, there were always new things.

"I think the point of the summit is that there is probably the opportunity to learn something you don't already know," he said.

sustainability vegan