Founded and hosted by leading San Antonio chef-entrepreneur Johnny Hernandez, the Paella Challenge is an annual ticketed Iron Chef-style community event held each March at the Pearl Brewery. Visitors enjoy food, libations and live entertainment as 40-plus chefs, along with high school participants, prepare classic and contemporary renditions of the traditional Spanish dish.
Proceeds from the juried event benefit The Culinary Institute America–San Antonio (Hernandez graduated from CIA-New York) and scholarships for aspiring young area chefs. Ahead of the sixth edition next March, the Challenge has so far raised some $400,000 in funds.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about our world-renowned CIA campus while helping to nurture the future culinary leaders of an ever-growing industry,” says Hernandez, whose latest La Gloria restaurant, opening this fall in San Antonio’s Dominion neighborhood, will feature traditional chocolate-based recipes.
Drawing ever-larger crowds each year, Paella Challenge typifies San Antonio’s embrace of public celebrations. Providing ready group tie-ins, here are three fall and winter highlights from the city’s annual festival calendar:
Centered at La Villita Historic Arts Village, the annual El Dia de los Muertos celebrates the Day of the Dead with creativity, music and citywide processions.
On Nov. 27, the 34th annual Ford Holiday River Parade features a procession of 28 decorated and illuminated floats along four miles of River Walk, plus bands, lavishly-costumed participants and more.
In December, Fiesta de las Luminarias is where some 6,000 warmly glowing candles in sand-weighted paper bags “light the way” in this treasured River Walk tradition from 1968.
