Saveur Fair!

The festival, which lasts from April 7-10, features a cornucopia of elite cooking seminars, champagne brunches where you just might get to rub elbows with the folks you've grown used to watching on the Food Network, and plenty of wine tastings. The events we're particularly fond of include the Cigar Smoker & Spirits Tasting at Cedar Street Courtyard, a New York Meets Texas cooking class where Gothamists and Austinists will battle it out à la Iron Chef, and the Culture Clash Breakfast that explores the various cuisines conspiring to form Austin's unique Tex-Mex style. The cornerstone event is a two-day Village at Auditorium Shores, an enormous sampler of the various events occuring over the four days. Here you might take a leisurely boat ride featuring sangria and tapas, or just chill out to some live music with a glass of vino.

All this effort to develop your inner bon vivant, unfortunately, will come at a significant cost: tickets for most events will run you anywhere from $55 for a cooking demonstration to $125 to attend the ultra swank Rare & Fine Wine Charity Auction. At these prices, you might enjoy a fantastic prix-fixe at Jeffrey's, or buy a truckload of box wine and drink yourself into a stupor in the privacy of your own home. Still, consider how your friends will gasp in awe after you demonstrate your newfound ability to flambé with such panache!

Tickets can be purchased online from Frontgate.