Heritage Fire food festival coming to Coyote Point in San Mateo on July 26

The event will bring together farmers, ranchers and pitmasters, half of whom are local to the Peninsula and all of whom will create a signature, open-fire bite, Lang said. That includes Michael Mallie of Burlingame restaurant Maverick Jacks and Ajay Rasa, owner of restaurants Rasa, Amara and Saffron, per a press release from the event.

And although it’s over an open flame, it’s not just barbecue, Lang emphasized.

“It can be a scallop, it can be a mushroom, it can be really anything that that chef wants to showcase, and it’s cooked right in front of the guests right over open fire,” she said.

Heritage Fire is a global food tour that spans 13 cities across the U.S. and Europe. The event is sometimes put on in conjunction with Whiskeys of the World, a tasting tour of top-shelf whiskeys. That event will occur separately, however, on Aug. 28 at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

It’s all part of a larger effort to showcase the Peninsula’s diverse and high-quality culinary options, much of which is locally-sourced from the coastside, Lang said.

“Think just about the culinary diversity of international and global food that we have, and that’s not talked about enough,” she said. “We’re really doubling down on showing the world that we have amazing chefs, we have amazing food, and a lot of our food is locally sourced.”

The Heritage Fire event will take place from 3:30-7:15 p.m. on July 26, with general admission tickets starting at $109 and early entry tickets going for $159. Attendees will receive all-inclusive access to both food and a curated selection of spirits.

Guests will also have the option to vote for their favorite chef, who will be crowned the Heritage Hero at the end of the event.

It’s the first year that Heritage Fire will come to San Mateo County, Lang said, noting that the event producers were excited by the region’s focus on locally-sourced, global cuisines.

“To them, it’s really important to tie the local community and food sources in with the chefs, and so to tell the whole story, and so they’re always looking for locations that showcase that,” she said. “I think once they learned about San Mateo County and what we do here, they were eager to come.”

Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.toursbya21.com/city/san-francisco-ca.