Festivals are big business these days, so much so that FestForums focuses on the trend during a three-day conference that’s being held in Santa Barbara for the second straight year. In addition to the expert panels and keynote speakers sharing their insights from November 19 to 21 at the Fess Parker DoubleTree Resort, FestForums also brings in star power from the music, film, and food worlds, including Jack Johnson, Bruce Dern, Quentin Tarantino, and Cat Cora.
This year culminates with the James Beard Foundation’s Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner on Monday night, when Cora will cook alongside international luminaries such as France’s famed Gilles Epié, who won a Michelin star as a 22-year-old chef and then worked in Los Angeles for 10 years before opening his own place, Citrus Etoile, in Paris in 2005. Both Cora and Epié are also speaking on Saturday about going from the kitchen to the screen.
Epié spoke to me via Skype from his home in Paris last week.