BottleRock Napa Valley, which entered the scene in 2013, is now an institution in the region, with an estimated 120,000 people attending the 3-day festival each year.
In 2015, a new component was added to the BottleRock Napa Valley lineup, and most appropriately: the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage. The goal in weaving this non-musical element into the festival’s already colorful tapestry was to “celebrate the intersection of food, wine, and music,” according to BottleRock partner Dave Graham. Regarding the Culinary Stage, Graham explained, “The idea stemmed from the fact that musicians tour the world, and as a result, understand and appreciate food as much as anyone. We thought it would be fun to pair celebrity chefs with rock stars performing at the festival.” As luck would have it, this turned out to be a winning combination. As the Culinary Stage concept developed, the creators discovered ways to make the interactions between the chefs, famous musicians, athletes, and celebrities more entertaining, humorous, and often irreverent, all while paying homage to the amazing chefs who were “rock stars” in their own right.
Early on, it became clear that the cooking performances needed a template that went beyond chefs and rock stars recreating favorite recipes. In a festival of this magnitude, the stage begged for something more intriguing, especially with the oversized personalities involved. To this end, the creators sought out unconventional commonalities between the musicians and chefs, a format that worked brilliantly in drawing BottleRock attendees to the Culinary Stage. An early example was the pairing of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto with Snoop Dogg. Their commonality? “Rolling” skills. It’s not hard to imagine how this played out on stage. Yes, it was an instant hit.
The popularity of the Culinary Stage has grown exponentially every year, and to satisfy the growing audience and their expectations, both the stage and the stage kitchens became larger and more elaborate, with esoteric gear and exotic cooking devices. In addition, the festival now employs dozens of backstage chefs who prep everything needed to keep up with the frenetic pace of cooking for an audience. With the help of these backstage chefs, the celebrities are able to keep their sessions within a 30-minute timeframe, a necessity when the festival is hosting four to five cooking acts per day.
Melissa-King with Beeches // Photo by Lowell Downey
It should be noted that Williams Sonoma is now much more than just an event sponsor at BottleRock, as Graham pointed out, “Williams Sonoma is a significant partner regarding the culinary stage. Their relationships with celebrity chefs are a competitive advantage and are of immense importance on the creative side. We work very closely with their team each year, and our partnership is a match made in heaven.” Williams Sonoma has been instrumental in the evolution of the Culinary Stage from a smallish event in the corner of the festival to a massive stage that draws enormous crowds to the center of the festival and which is connected to BottleRock’s incredible lineup of food vendors. “The Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage epitomizes our efforts to combine food, music, and wine into a world-class festival experience,” said Graham.
The BottleRock culinary experience has changed significantly over the past nine years. What started as a mix of celebrity chefs and Bay Area culinary stars has now transformed into a lineup of entirely A-list celebrity chefs. The famous musicians, actors, and sports figures who would be part of the BottleRock food and wine scene are eager to join in the antics and appear alongside their culinary heroes. The top Culinary Stage acts for 2024, which included Bradley Cooper and Steph Curry with Chef José Andrés and the all-girl Indie band The Beaches with Chef Melissa King, drew more than 10,000 people to BottleRock’s top culinary sets. This evolution has made the culinary experiences at BottleRock unmatched by any other food or music festival.
NBA Superstar Steph Curry and Chef Jose Andres // Photo by Lowell Downey
The quest for the food and wine connection at BottleRock 2024 extended beyond the Culinary Stage. The real culinary entertainment can be found in BottleRock’s expansive Culinary Garden and at the various watering holes sprinkled throughout the festival, including Beer Bend, the Wine Garden, and multiple bars and clusters of Napa Valley winery tents perched on the perimeter of the big music stages. For those not partaking in alcohol, there were also many zero-proof options. In 2024, BottleRock hosted 60 food vendors and 40 beverage tents, offering all attendees a diverse and delicious array of choices, with the higher-profile Napa Valley restaurants catering exclusively to Platinum pass holders and those in the Suites and VIP sections.
The food booths featured in the 2024 Culinary Garden were filled to the brim with incredible edibles – from classic wine country charcuterie boards and poke bowls to Mediterranean gyro salads and empanadas to wood-oven pizzas and spicy ceviche tostadas. Especially memorable was Bounty Hunter’s Beer Can Chicken, the moist breast meat imbued with a soft smokey flavor throughout, the richness of which was offset by a side of crisp and tangy coleslaw. The dish that seemed, hands down, to have won the popularity contest at the Garden was the Lobster Tots from The Alice Collective, out of Oakland. These crispy tater tots were generously filled with sweet bits of lobster, garnished with crispy veggies and green onions, then drizzled with creamy and spicy sauces. The lobster tots were inhalable; they were so good.
Mini Charcuterie – Oakville Grocery // Photo by Lowell Downey
For those looking for something special to pair with a glass of wine, the Oakville Grocery did not disappoint with their Mini Charcuterie Board, which included gourmet cheese bites, salumi, olives, nuts, and dried fruit. Allegria’s Chicken Parmesan Sandwich with garlic fries was also tasty, paired with a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The sandwiches were sauced with marinara and fresh pesto, adding a rich yet bright flavor to the fried chicken nestled in a crispy Italian baguette.
The two rock stars of the Culinary Garden were decidedly the new Stateline Road Smokehouse and Gerard’s Paella. Chef Darryl Bell of Stateline personally served up his Smoked Maitake & Greens Salad with crisp purple rice, marinated garbanzo beans, and a fresh lemon vinaigrette. The dish was absolutely delicious – enough so that a hardcore carnivore might be convinced to go vegan for at least the day. Gerard’s Paella served up huge bowls of saffrony heaven: paella with tender shrimp, moist chunks of chicken, fresh veggies, creamy aioli, and garnished with a big lemon wedge. Each bowl could easily have fed two starving concertgoers.
Next year’s BottleRock Napa Valley lineups, both on the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage and in the Culinary Garden, promise to be equally irresistible.
