On October 4-5, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) hosted its annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival, which this year got a complete redesign. “We really needed to redefine the event to truly reflect what SPAC is and what our mission is,” SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol told saratoga living earlier this year. “I’ve always had my eye on moving in this direction, where we’re really celebrating the culinary and cultural bounty of the region. We took away all the elements that didn’t match up with our vision, presence and community, and went forward to really celebrating the arts.”
Besides being held a month later than usual, the main difference between this year’s event and past events was the brand-new farm-to-table Harvest Dinner on Friday night. The dinner, which had a “forest magic” theme, featured renowned regional chefs working alongside chefs from New York City and the UK; a sculpture garden curated by The Hyde Collection; music provided by Caffè Lena; and a photography exhibit by saratoga living contributing photographer Terri-Lynn Pellegri exploring food waste in Saratoga. This year, SPAC also introduced the Cultivate Series, which, through partnerships with Pitney Meadows and Skidmore College, presented free public events exploring sustainable agriculture, health and environmental justice in the week leading up to the festival.
Be sure to click through the above photo gallery by Francesco D’Amico for photos of Friday evening’s Harvest Dinner and Saturday’s always-popular Grand Tasting event. Bon Appétit!