• Home
• At The Shore
• Casinos

Foodies are well aware that Harrah's Entertainment's annual Toast to the Coast weekend was a culinary treat to always look forward to. Apparently, Harrah's Entertainment didn't think it was big enough.

So this year, the casino company that operates four properties in Atlantic City is tossing to the Toast to the Coast idea and rolling out a bigger and better four-day extravaganza that is now called the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival.

Presented by TD Bank in conjunction with Harrah's Entertainment and the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, the inaugural Food & Wine Festival will be held July 30 through Aug. 2, and feature an unbelievable celebrity chef lineup that includes Emeril Lagasse (Food Network's "Emeril Live"), Tom Colicchio (Bravo's "Top Chef"), Duff Goldman (Food Network's "Ace of Cakes), Ted Allen (Food Network's "Chopped"), Guy Fieri (Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives") and Ingrid Hoffman (Food Network's "Simply Delicioso").

"We've had successful food and wine events for two years, but we looked at the third year as an opportunity to grow the event into a more regional, and over time, a national event," says Jennifer Weissman, regional vice president of marketing for Harrah's Atlantic City operations. "To do that, we assembled top talent and created very special events unlike any others that you might experience in this market or any others. So we worked with the ACCVA as well as our internal restaurants and our restaurants at The Pier to generate something larger than what we were able to accomplish in the past."

The long weekend of events has a little something for everyone as the celebrity chefs will mingle, interact and even teach food lovers how to cook at everything from demonstrations to beach parties to a dinner and a movie on Aug. 2 hosted by Hoffman.

"We're even letting Ingrid pick the movie," says Weissman, noting that it will be shown on the big screen on The Pier.

Events will take place at all four Harrah's Entertainment properties - Harrah's Resort, Bally's Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City and Showboat Casino-Hotel.

In fact, many of the events are tailored to fit the themes of the hotels. For example, Lagasse will offer a Cajun cooking course at Showboat and Fieri will team with Phillips Seafood for a summertime clambake in the historic Dennis Courtyard at Bally's on the Boardwalk on Aug. 2.

Other highlights include:

• An intimate dinner at Caesars with Fieri, who will demonstrate how to prepare a family-style dinner and then sit down and eat with the guests.

• Cooking lessons with Lagasse, Fieri, Colicchio and Hoffman.

• A California wine tour hosted by Allen in the Courtyard on Aug. 1.

• A Glenlivet Cigar and Whiskey Lounge.

• A beer garden hosted by Trinity Irish Pub & Carvery and Game On! at The Pier.

• The Art of Fondue presented by The Melting Pot and hosted by Hoffman at The Pool at Harrah's.

• The House of Blues Gospel Brunch hosted by Goldman on Aug. 2.

• A food and wine tasting at The Pool on July 31 with several celebrity chefs.

• And the Malibu rum beach soiree at Bally's Beach Bar the evening of Aug. 1.

"I am really excited about the beach soiree because all of the celebrity chefs will be there that night," Weissman says. "It will go from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. and will be a great casual affair where there will be great drinks. It will really show off the best of Atlantic City in that it is on the beach and we will have all of the chefs mixing and mingling with the crowd. It will be a wonderful nightlife experience.

"But it's exciting to talk about the cooking demonstrations. With Emeril at Showboat and Ingrid doing a Spanish cooking demonstration … they are really phenomenal experience to get that intimate experience up close and personal."

Harrah's Entertainment is also donating some proceeds to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Central and South Jersey Affiliate. A limited number of $2,000 "Pink Ribbon" packages will be available that include access to all events, commemorative gifts, room and more.

Tickets for all events will go on sale on Saturday, April 25, at www.acfoodandwine.com.

No comments have been posted. Be the first poster!

PressofAtlanticCity.com offers everyone the opportunity to comment on published stories. However, it is impractical for editors to screen all comments.
If you believe a comment is offensive, please click on the abuse-reporting link and your objection will be considered by an editor. We encourage participants to use their real names, but inoffensive screen names are acceptable. Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them.
Please post responsibly. Do not post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy.
Be polite. Don’t hate. Users who don’t play by the rules may be blocked from participating.

View our full terms of service and privacy agreement

Click here to report a comment as abusive.

You must login to post a new comment