Indie Chefs Week Kicks Off for the Last Time in Austin

This week, Foreign & Domestic chef/owner Ned Elliott, along with partner and festival organizer Grover Smith, are bringing back Indie Chefs Week for the fourth time, a series of four collaborative dinners designed to put lesser-known chefs from around the country in the spotlight. This will be the last time it will be held in Austin, although it is being held in other cities this year, including Houston, New York, and Los Angeles.

Indie Chefs Week runs from Wednesday, March 15 through Friday, March 17, where groups of nine chefs will serve nine-course meals. The culminating event is a 27-chef, 12+-course dinner on Saturday, March 18.

Elliott created Indie Chefs Week in 2013 as an opportunity to highlight up-and-coming talent, many who lack large public relations budgets. The event took a one-year hiatus in 2016 to strength its sponsor list, expand the series to other cities, and lower ticket costs.

This year’s Austin event includes a roster of participants that reads like a “chefs to watch in 2017” guide. This means Adam Brick (Apis and Pizzeria Sorellina), Adam Puskorius (Fixe Restaurant), Amanda Rockman (Café No Se), Jonathan Peters (Clark’s Oyster Bar), Kendall Melton (Chicon and Contigo), Kristine Kittrell (Weather Up), Page Pressley (Emmer & Rye), and Sterling Ridings (of the impending Guild and formerly of Uchiko).

Visiting chefs include Christine Rivera (Galaxy Taco in La Jolla), Julia Doran (Bernadine's in Houston), Misti Norris (Petra and the Beast pop-ups in Dallas), Ryan Santos (Please in Cincinnati), Tim Archuleta (Ichi Sushi in San Francisco), and many more.

This series starts on Wednesday at Apis with a (sold-out) nine-course meal prepared by nine chefs. The following two nights at Foreign & Domestic follow a similar format with tickets starting at $125. Tickets for Saturday’s 12+-course grand finale dinner — featuring all 27 participating chefs — start at $175. Wine pairings cost $35. Guests are also welcome to bring their own wine to all three dinners at Foreign & Domestic though a corkage fee will be charged. Bottles of wine will also be available for purchase. The prix-fixe menus for each night will be posted soon.

Tickets are still available for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday’s grand finale dinner. All three will take place at Foreign & Domestic.

The duo is looking at Miami, Chicago, Denver, Toronto, and San Francisco for its 2018 series.

• Indie Chefs Week [Official]
• Indie Chefs Week [Facebook]