Klyde Warren Park has only closed to the public one time, during a mayor's conference. This fall, part of the public park will close a second time for a ticketed food festival called Park & Palate Sept. 25 and 26.
The east lawn will remain open to the public on those days for family activities. The rest of the park will be stocked with dozens of chefs and hundreds of hungry patrons.
Park & Palate, new this year, was designed to celebrate wine, food and chefs and to raise money for the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation, which operates Klyde Warren Park.
It's a high-dollar, 21 and up event that will include appearances by celebrity chefs Amanda Freitag (who has appeared on TV shows Iron Chef America and Chopped) and Jonathan Waxman (owner of Barbuto in New York City).
The festival begins Sept. 25 with a chef battle called Down to the Roots. Twelve Texas chefs will make "comfort food with a modern twist," and Freitag and Waxman will sit on the panel that chooses the winner. Some of the local chefs competing include John Tesar (Knife, Oak, El Bolero), Kent Rathbun (Jasper's Abacus, Hickory), Tiffany Derry (former Top Chef contestant) and Tyson Cole (Uchi and Uchiko).
The second day of the fest is a grand tasting that will include 30 Texas chefs and 30 wineries. Dallas chefs such as Andrea Meyer (Bisous Bisous Patisserie), Brian Luscher (Luscher's Red Hots, the Grape), Graham Dodds (Hibiscus), Joel Harrington (Bolsa), Omar Flores (Casa Rubia), Paula Lambert (Mozzarella Company) and many more are expected to participate.
Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 14 at parkandpalate.org. Tickets start at $150 per person for general admission on Saturday. One-day VIP tickets start at $275 and go up to $450 for both days. Fest is 21 and up only. Klyde Warren Park is located at 2012 Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas.
