The Eat Drink RI Festival Grand Tasting features samplings of over sixty locally produced beer, wine and spirits, as well as an abundance of local food artisans in Hall A of the Rhode Island Convention Center. During the Tasting there will be all-new local food and drink presentations on the Frigidaire Professional Presentation Stage sponsored and provided by Wickford Appliance featuring Rhode Island’s top chefs paired with a local producer to wow attendees with some of the best food in the country – all included with admission to the Grand Tasting.

• Nicks On Broadway‘s Chef Derek Wagner and Eating with the Ecosystem‘s Sarah Schumann
• Federal Hill Pizza‘s Chef Billy Manzo and Lee Ann Freitas
• Easy Entertaining Inc.‘s Chef Ashley Vanasse and Blackbird Farm‘s Ann Marie Bouthillette

New to this year’s Festival Grand Tasting, Eat Drink RI is partnering with the Point Street Reading Series for a trio of food-author readings and signings.

• Christine Chitnis, local Rhode Island writer and photographer and author of multiple cookbooks, most recently Icy, Creamy, Healthy, Sweet: 75 Recipes for Dairy-Free Ice Cream, Fruit-Forward Ice Pops, Frozen Yogurt, Granitas, Slushies, Shakes, and More
• David Leite, founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria, and author of the forthcoming Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression
• Evan Mallett, chef/owner of Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Black Trumpet and Stock + Spice, and author of Black Trumpet: A Chef’s Journey Through Eight New England Seasons

For the full list of Grand Tasting tables and participants, please see the Exhibitors page.

Grand Tasting tickets are $75 and includes all food and beverage samplings offered, Local Food & Drink Presentations and author readings & signings.