Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Everyone's a wiener at Sausage Fest

July 16 event lets foodies try the best of the würst

Sausage Fest will be held July 16 at Hotel Solamar between 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Sausage Fest will be held July 16 at Hotel Solamar between 5:30-8:30 p.m.

"Last year Tender Greens won Sausage Fest,” says JSix executive chef Christian Graves. “They haven’t been invited back this year because they peed in the bushes, and jumped in the pool.”

Past Event

Sausage Fest

  • Wednesday, July 16, 2014, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Jsix, 616 J Street, San Diego
  • $10 - $30

Now in its third year, Sausage Fest is an event where chefs from 10 top restaurants compete to see who can beat the others' meat.

“It’s most definitely an industry event for chefs, and a healthy competition,” says Graves, which takes place July 16 on the rooftop terrace atop Hotel Solamar, the downtown hotel that is home to JSix.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Sausages being grilled at Sausage Fest, an annual cooking contest scheduled for July 16 at Hotel Solamar.

“I think everyone understands that Sausage Fest is supposed to be like Oktoberfest in summer,” Graves says. “It’s a chance to be silly, and let your hair down. But there is a purpose: the chefs do want to beat each other — bragging rights are important.”

Besides JSix, competing restaurants include Carnitas’ Snack Shack, Salt & Cleaver, Tiger! Tiger!, Coronado Brewing Company, Mastiff Sausage Company and Nine-Ten.

The first year, 14 teams competed, but that was too much, according to Graves.

“It was too many, so we reeled it back to 10 last year,” he says. “Chefs are asking to do it, but there aren’t enough spaces for cooking. Maybe next year, we’ll take it to the streets.”

Graves says he’s learned a lot since the inaugural fest.

“That first year, I just wanted to make an authentic and nice sausage, but I learned that the goal is to be unique. If eight people make a good Italian sausage — the classic — and someone makes a curry wurst, that’s the one people will remember.

“Matt Gordon [of Urban Solace and Sea & Smoke] made a foie gras sausage right before foie gras was banned. That was smart.”

Graves is keeping his own weiners hidden until the last possible moment. He does offer a hint of what to expect.

“Mine will be as warm as the weather,” he says. “I may stick to a pork sausage, but it probably won’t taste like pork.”

Sausage Fest takes place between 5:30-8:30 p.m.

For $10, attendees can sample all the sausages and for $20 more get a liter stein of a pilsner beer being specially brewed for the event by Lost Abbey.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Sausage Fest will be held July 16 at Hotel Solamar between 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Sausage Fest will be held July 16 at Hotel Solamar between 5:30-8:30 p.m.

"Last year Tender Greens won Sausage Fest,” says JSix executive chef Christian Graves. “They haven’t been invited back this year because they peed in the bushes, and jumped in the pool.”

Past Event

Sausage Fest

  • Wednesday, July 16, 2014, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Jsix, 616 J Street, San Diego
  • $10 - $30

Now in its third year, Sausage Fest is an event where chefs from 10 top restaurants compete to see who can beat the others' meat.

“It’s most definitely an industry event for chefs, and a healthy competition,” says Graves, which takes place July 16 on the rooftop terrace atop Hotel Solamar, the downtown hotel that is home to JSix.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Sausages being grilled at Sausage Fest, an annual cooking contest scheduled for July 16 at Hotel Solamar.

“I think everyone understands that Sausage Fest is supposed to be like Oktoberfest in summer,” Graves says. “It’s a chance to be silly, and let your hair down. But there is a purpose: the chefs do want to beat each other — bragging rights are important.”

Besides JSix, competing restaurants include Carnitas’ Snack Shack, Salt & Cleaver, Tiger! Tiger!, Coronado Brewing Company, Mastiff Sausage Company and Nine-Ten.

The first year, 14 teams competed, but that was too much, according to Graves.

“It was too many, so we reeled it back to 10 last year,” he says. “Chefs are asking to do it, but there aren’t enough spaces for cooking. Maybe next year, we’ll take it to the streets.”

Graves says he’s learned a lot since the inaugural fest.

“That first year, I just wanted to make an authentic and nice sausage, but I learned that the goal is to be unique. If eight people make a good Italian sausage — the classic — and someone makes a curry wurst, that’s the one people will remember.

“Matt Gordon [of Urban Solace and Sea & Smoke] made a foie gras sausage right before foie gras was banned. That was smart.”

Graves is keeping his own weiners hidden until the last possible moment. He does offer a hint of what to expect.

“Mine will be as warm as the weather,” he says. “I may stick to a pork sausage, but it probably won’t taste like pork.”

Sausage Fest takes place between 5:30-8:30 p.m.

For $10, attendees can sample all the sausages and for $20 more get a liter stein of a pilsner beer being specially brewed for the event by Lost Abbey.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.