What’s cooking on Culinary Stage in 2023?

deleciousfood | May 26, 2023 | Cooking | No Comments

BottleRock Napa Valley has announced the star-studded 2023 lineup for its insanely popular Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage, where chefs team up with rock stars and other celebrities to have fun and make food.

Bill includes Wu-Tang Clan, Sammy Hagar, Lil Nas X, John Taylor and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, Bastille, Keanu Reeves and his dogstar friends Bret Domrose and Robert Mailhouse, José Andrés, Giada De Laurentiis, David Chang and Chris Ying, Roy Choi, Andrew Zimmern, Aarón Sánchez and the Voltaggio brothers.

Yet what the promoters didn’t mention in the press release sent out on May 24 is what these celebrity chefs and rockers will actually be doing on stage during the three-day festival, which runs from May 26-28. in downtown Napa.

In an exclusive interview with our publication, the organizers detailed what to expect to see on stage.

“Every type of food will be baked, fried, grilled, tasted and tested – from the Voltaggio brothers’ CREAMsicles to fish & chips with a kick from chef Aaron Sanchez,” says Liam Mayclem, the culinary scene’s longtime host Williams Sonoma.

Here’s a look at some of the fun mashups that happen in the culinary stage:

Sammy Hagar, Jose Andrés

Get ready to shout “Tequila!” as Red Rocker and Bay Area Chef Andres shake things up and whip up margaritas. (4:15 p.m. on May 27)

John Taylor and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, Andrew Zimmern

Zimmern is definitely a meat guy. This time around, however, he’s going vegetarian — given that the two Taylors would both be vegetarians. (5:45 p.m. on May 27)

Lil Nas X, David Chang, Chris Ying

The hip-hop star, who will headline the big Verizon Stage on Sunday, along with restaurateur Momofuku Chang and food writer Ying will cook lobster pasta. (6 p.m. May 28)

Bastille, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, Aaron Sanchez

Mayclem refers to Bastille and Beckham collectively as the “Spice Lads”, a nod to Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham’s legendary group Spice Girls. Chef Sanchez will lead the group in making fish tacos as well as fish & chips, with the key word “spice” coming into play when preparing the dishes. (7:45 p.m. on May 26)

Wu-Tang Clan, Warren G, Voltaggio Brothers, Amirah Kassem

One of the most important rap music groups of all time, performing at the festival on Sunday, will do CREAMsicles (a nod to the group’s famous song “CREAM”) with hip-hop star Warren G , the baker Kassem and the Voltaggio Frères. (3 p.m. May 28)

Jonny Moseley, Charles Woodson Aaron May

Olympian Moseley, an American freestyle skier who attended UC Davis and UC Berkeley, and Raiders legend and Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson will make ‘Dinner Roll’ bread pudding soaked of whiskey with Chef May. The name of the dish refers to Moseley’s famous aerial ski move “The Dinner Roll”. (4:30 p.m. on May 26)

Tiffani Thiessen, Derek Hough

The “Beverley Hills 90210” cookbook icon and author, who currently appears on MTV’s comedy music video show “Deliciousness,” will be mixing hurricane cocktails with dancer Hough. (4:30 p.m. on May 28)

Killer Mike, Giada De Laurentis

Hip-hop star Killer Mike and chef De Laurentis, who was host of Food Network’s “Giada at Home,” will cook Giada’s Tuscan Pork Stew. (3 p.m. May 26)

It’s a pretty impressive range. And the Williams Sonoma food scene only seems to grow in popularity every year, not just with festival-goers, but attendees as well.

“Our secret sauce is that rock stars and sports stars are super excited to meet rock star chefs,” says Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage producer Kendell Coleman. “The end result is a culinary stew like no other on the biggest food scene in the country – if not the world”

Culinary activities have moved to a larger stage setup – one with a larger sound system as well – for 2023.

“You can’t escape the culinary stage,” says Mayclem. “We are increasing the sound – and everything else – to 11.

“We can even go up to 12.”

For more information, visit bottlerocknapavalley.com.