Festival Gourmet Features Riviera Nayarit’s Top Restaurants & Chefs

Riviera Nayarit is pleased to announce the 17^th annual Festival Gourmet International, a celebration of Mexican and international cuisine taking place throughout the region’s high end restaurants November 10-20, 2011. The Festival will offer special menus in 28 participating restaurants, cooking demonstrations by the area’s talented chefs, international guest chefs, wine tastings, chef’s tables and much more.

“We are delighted to celebrate Riviera Nayarit’s outstanding restaurants and cuisine during the 17^th Gourmet Festival. This year’s event is very special, now that half of the participating establishments are in Nayarit,” said Marc Murphy, Managing Director of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Riviera Nayarit welcomes this year’s world-renowned chefs and guests from around the world to another exciting celebration of traditional and contemporary cuisine from the region.”

The Festival Gourmet will open on Thursday, November 10 at the Main Square in Puerto Vallarta where guests will enjoy a colorful village fest and an excellent opportunity to meet the international master chefs in person. Exquisite hors d’oeuvres and first-class Argentine wines, Corona beer and tequila Herradura will add to the flavors of the kick off to the celebrations.

Riviera Nayarit’s restaurants for this year’s events include Emiliano, El Delfín, Sea Breeze, Café Des Artistes del Mar, Santa Marea, Nicksan and Epazote among others.

Below are highlighted some of the events that will be included in this year’s program:

§ Second International Culinary Symposium at the “Universidad Technoligica de Bahía de Banderas” in Nuevo Vallarta: A highly interesting forum for ambitious professionals in the restaurant industry; International gastronomy stars present useful topics relating to the culinary profession. Guest Chef Patricia Quintana will be participating in the symposium for the second consecutive year.

§ Star Chefs & Dinner Show – One for all, all for one: Eight invited and local Chefs together with their host restaurants will be cooking in a tremendous diner-show on stage at the Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. A fundraiser will also be held and the proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated in equal part to the Red Cross in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.

§ Gourmet Safari #4 Progressive Dinning: Tour guests will be meeting at Sandzibar, located in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, and then proceed to SeaBreeze, at the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort. The tour will be ending at Café des Artistes del Mar, located at Hotel des Artistes in Punta de Mita.

For a full list of events scheduled during the Festival and participating chefs, visit http://www.festivalgourmet.com/program.php

For more information about Riviera Nayarit, please visit www.rivieranayarit.com

About Riviera Nayarit
Mexico’s newest destination, Riviera Nayarit, stretches along 192 miles of pristine Pacific coast framed by the majestic Sierra Madre Mountains just ten minutes north of accessible Puerto Vallarta International Airport. The region extends along the entire coast of the Pacific state of Nayarit including the resorts of Nuevo Vallarta, the historic colonial town of San Blas, exclusive Punta Mita, picturesque fishing villages, miles of serene beaches and spectacular Banderas Bay. Riviera Nayarit offers countless activities, all pleasantly affordable, such as: PGA golf courses, luxury spas, whale watching, turtle release, zip lining, surfing, record deep sea fishing, bird watching, international cuisine, and shopping for local artwork and traditional Huichol handicrafts. The region attracts and satisfies vacationers of all tastes and budgets with its wide range of accommodations including chic luxury resorts, eco-tourism boutique hotels and quaint B&B inns. For more information, visit www.RivieraNayarit.com or find us on Facebook.

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