Residents and visitors can savor the local harvest, taste the area’s award-winning wines, meet master chefs, learn from beer, bourbon and wine experts, and discover the flavors that make Cape May a city renowned for its cuisine during the 17th Annual Cape May Food & Wine Celebration from Sept. 14-22, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC).
Come to Cape May Convention Hall from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22 for A Taste of Cape May — a new food and wine extravaganza offering the chance to sample wines from five area wineries and menu items from Cape May’s fine restaurants. Enjoy the soothing sounds of the Herb Moore Trio as you taste and shop for food and wine-related merchandise.
Join bourbon ambassador Vincent Trapozzano during the Bourbon Tasting Dinner Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. and you’ll learn nuances of a classic American spirit and enjoy a four-course pairing dinner at Aleathea’s Restaurant.
A Harvest Food & Wine Tasting will celebrate the local harvest with a lavish sampling dinner, co-sponsored by Seaside Cheese Company and the Cape May Winery, at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. Butlered hors d’oeuvres and a cheese sampling are followed by a salad course, and sampling of three dinner entrees and two desserts. Each course is paired with wine from the Cape May Winery.
Returning this year is the Cape May Clambake at the Hawk Haven Vineyard on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tour the vineyard, enjoy live entertainment, sample the fine wines and enjoy a traditional clambake of steamed clams, lobster tail, corn on the cob, shrimp, mussels and more.
Not to be missed are Chefs’ Dine-Arounds, on Sunday, Sept. 15, Monday, Sept. 16, Wednesday, Sept. 18 and Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. Board MAC’s trolley and enjoy five different premier restaurants each serving a single course, paired with wine from a sponsoring winery. A winery representative explains the pairings and a trolley shuttle transports you between each restaurant.
Get tips and techniques from one of the most entertaining celebrity chefs around, Master Chef Joseph Poon of Philadelphia, who has appeared on television programs including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Don’t miss his fun and informative lectures at the Inn of Cape May on Monday, Sept. 16 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
All this, plus a Beer Tasting Dinner, Gourmet Lunches, Fisherman’s Wharf Tour, a Gourmet Brunch Walk, Cape May Wine Trail, Self-guided Wine Trails, Self-guided Wine & Brewery Trails, Winery Cellar Tour & Tastings, and more.
Purchase tickets in advance for these events online, at www.capemaymac.org, or in person at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth or the Hill House office or the Carriage House Visitor’s Center at the Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., during hours of operation. To purchase tickets for A Taste of Cape May on Sept. 22, call 609-884-9565 or go online at www.capemayconventionhall.org.