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With Terra meaning “of the earth” and Vita meaning “life,” the name captures the very spirit of the Triangle’s premier foodie event which returns to the area this November 1st through the 3rd. The third annual TerraVITA Food & Wine Event will bring together some of the finest biodynamic and organically-grown wines and microbrews in the world with some of the very best North Carolina chefs, known and celebrated for their outstanding reputations and chosen for their devotion and allegiance to locally-grown ingredients.

TerraVITA 2012 will offer a stellar line-up of the best chefs, from the coast to the mountains of North Carolina, and unite their amazing food with select beverages produced by some of the best craftsmen in the world.

TerraVITA Grand Tasting Event 2011
(photo courtesy of TerraVITA)

The “Grand Tasting on the Green”, the headlining event of TerraVITA, takes place on Saturday, November 3, from 1 – 4:30 p.m.

This event brings together some of the best sustainably-produced wines, microbrews, coffees and spirits and offers them side-by-side with culinary tastings by James Beard-nominated chefs, artisan chocolatiers, charcuteries and cheese makers from across the state of North Carolina.  Advance tickets are $65 for the all-inclusive event with a special designated driver/no alcohol ticket offered for $55. Tickets can be purchased on the event website here.

3 Cups
(photo courtesy of TerraVITA)

Participating restaurants and food artisans:
Herons Restaurant (Cary), Dan and Jael Rattigan from French Broad Chocolate Lounge (Asheville), Acme Food & Beverage Company (Carrboro), Knife & Fork (Spruce Pine), Elemental Chocolate (Raleigh), Little Hen Restaurant (Holly Springs), Mandolin (Raleigh), Chefs 105 (Morehead City), On The Square (Tarboro), Harvest Moon Grille (Charlotte), Il Palio (Chapel Hill), Crippen’s Restaurant (Blowing Rock), Crumb (Raleigh), Chapel Hill Creamery (Chapel Hill), Green Valley Grill (Greensboro), 518 West (Raleigh), Oakleaf (Pittsboro), Hillsborough Cheese Company (Hillsborough), Farmhand Foods (Durham), 18 Seaboard (Raleigh), Weathervane (Chapel Hill), Rose’s Meat Market & Sweet Shop (Durham), Market Restaurant (Raleigh), Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen (Greensboro/Cary), The Chef’s Academy (Morrisville), Escazu Artisan Chocolates (Raleigh), Sandwhich (Chapel Hill), and NamaKiss Chocolates (Raleigh).

The Market Restaurant
(photo courtesy of TerraVITA)

Beverage participants:
De Maison Selections, Sour Grapes, SIP…A Wine Store, Authentique Vin, Tryon Distributing, Highland Brewing Company, Peak Organic Beer, New Belgium Brewing, Mystery Brewing Company, and Full Sail Brewing, as well as Carrboro Coffee Company, Joe Van Gogh, Slingshot Coffee Company and TOPO Spirits and more. More than 100 beverage samples will be available for tasting.

Carrboro Coffee
(photo courtesy of TerraVITA)

In addition to the marquee Grand Tasting, three other events occur during the festival: Chefs’ Harvest Potluck,The Sustainable Classroom, and The Carolina Table: East Meets West Dinner. 

Additional Event Information:

Chef’s Harvest Potluck
When: Thursday, November 1st (7-9pm)
Where: Town Commons in Carrboro, NC
Cost: $55 (for tickets purchased before Oct 15)

The dinner will feature dishes from 20 top chefs in the Triangle, including Andrea Reusing from Lantern, Sara Foster from Foster’s Market, Bill Smith from Crooks Corner, Sean Fowler from Mandolin, Adam Rose from Il Palio, Kevin Callaghan from Acme Food & Beverage Company, Bret Jennings from Elaine’s On Franklin, Seth Kingsbury from Pazzo, Vimala Rajendran from Vimala’s Curryblossom Café, Jim Nixon from Panzanella, Marshall Smith at Glasshalfull, Aaron Vandemark from Pancuito, Sam Suchoff from The Pig and more.  All the featured chefs use Carrboro Farmers’ Market as a consistent resource for ingredients and 100 percent of the money raised through ticket sales will go to the Market for physical improvements to its current location.

The Sustainable Classroom
When: Thursday, November 2nd (9:30am-4:15pm)
Where: TOPO Distiller & Greenbridge – Both in Chapel Hill
Cost: $35 for two sessions, or $50 for four consecutive sessions.

A combination of culinary workshops, tastings, and beverage and food demonstrations featuring food and beverage experts and aficionados. The Sustainable Classroom sessions will be held in two locations, just one block from one another in Chapel Hill: The new TOPO Distillery on Graham St. near the intersection of West Franklin, and the event space at Greenbridge on Graham St. Each session lasts an hour and fifteen minutes and will include multiple experts specializing in different facets of food and/or drink.

Session Sampler:  One session pairs chef and cookbook author Bill Smith from the James Beard-winning restaurant Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill with NC native and author Sheri Castle; they’ll offer tastings of favorite recipes and discuss the whims and woes of putting together a winning cookbook. Another session combines cheesemonger Alexander Kast (Southern Season, Chapel Hill) with Triangle chef/instructor Breana Lai, and sommelier and proprietor Inez Ribustello (On the Square, Tarboro) to do the ultimate wine, cheese and food tasting. Guests will choose among eight sessions and each guest may select a maximum of four sessions to attend throughout the day.

Other Sustainable Classroom experts: Dr. Bernie Herman from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tom Gallivan from Shooting Point Oysters (coastal Virginia), Scott Maitland from TOPO Distillery (Chapel Hill),  Scott Conary from Carrboro Coffee Company (Carrboro), Cassie Parsons from Harvest Moon Grille (Charlotte), Cheese Expert Sasha Shreders from Southern Foods (Winston-Salem/Greensboro), Jay Pierce from Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen (Greensboro, Cary), Leah Wong Ashburn from Highland Brewing Company (Asheville), Amanda Hodge from Great Lakes Brewing Co. (Cleveland, OH), Wine educator and consultant Mary Margaret McCamic from The Clever Vine (Carrboro), Sherry Stolfo from The Chef’s Academy (Morrisville), Marilyn Markel from A Southern Season (Chapel Hill), and more.

A full list of speakers and session descriptions can be found on the event website here.

The Carolina Table: East Meets West Dinner at Chatjam Mills in Pittsboro
When: Friday November 2nd (7-10pm)

This event began as an exclusive “thank you” event for sponsors. This year, it’s open to the public for the first time and showcases three chefs–one from eastern NC, one from western NC, and one from the Triangle. The chefs work together to prepare a six-course meal centered on local ingredients. This year, the chefs include James Beard nominee Vivian Howard from Chef and The Farmer (Kinston), Cassie Parsons from Harvest Moon Grille (Charlotte), and Adam Rose from Il Palio (Chapel Hill).  Dessert will be prepared by Jael and Dan Rattigan from French Broad Chocolate Lounge (Asheville, NC).

For more information on attending  TerraVITA 2012, please visit their website and Facebook  Page or follow them on twitter at @Terravitafoodie.