Taste NY Culinary & Cocktail Tent
At the 2026 Fest, the Taste NY Culinary & Cocktail Tent will host cooking and cocktail demonstrations performed by a variety of chefs and mixologists, including Mixaritas Mobile Bartending Service! The chefs and mixologists utilize products from our festival vendors in their recipes. In addition to the demonstrations, the chefs and mixologists also compete in ‘Iron Chef’ style competitions each day of the festival, with an ultimate winner awarded on Sunday! 2025’s Winner of the final competition, Chef Carl Weiner, will be returning in 2026 to defend his title! The panel of influencer judges will put their taste buds to the ultimate test and choose the winners.
2026 Schedule
Saturday
10:30am – 11:00am (VIP Welcome)
VIP Brunch Cocktail Demo with Mixaritas Mobile Bartending
11:00am – 11:45am
Comfort Zucchini Bread with Chef Vincent Tropepe (Sponsored by the Hospitality Mental Wellness Initiative, “HMWI”))
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Culinary Competition – with Chef Journey Kerchner (Downtown Social) & Kathleen Pigliavento (@Dannypigs & Capital Sweat Productions)
1:45pm – 2:45pm
Summer Corn & Crab Salad Demo with Chef Sakari Smithwick (Food Network Chef & Author of Savor Your Journey)
2:45pm – 3:15pm
Cocktail Demo with Mixaritas Mobile Bartending
3:15pm – 4:00pm
Oyster Po’ Boy with Ralph Viggianno
4:15pm – 5:00pm
Speaker Chef Vincent Tropepe (HMWI)
Sunday
10:30am – 11:00am (VIP Welcome)
VIP Brunch Cocktails Demo with Mixaritas Mobile Bartending
11:00am – 11:45am
Sinful Bread Pudding Demo with Chef Vincent Tropepe (Sponsored by HMWI)
12:00pm – 1:00pm
Summer Corn & Crab Salad Demo with Chef Sakari Smithwick (Food Network Chef & Author of Savor Your Journey)
1:15pm – 2:00pm
Mixology Competition – Jenn Berry (Mixaritas Mobile Bartending) & James Humphreys (The Bourbon Room & Everett Bar Solutions)
2:15pm – 3:45pm
Final Culinary Competition – The Winning Chef from Saturday goes head-to-head with Chef Carl Weiner (2025 Winning Chef)
3:45pm – 4:15pm
Cocktail Demonstration with Mixaritas Mobile Bartending
4:15pm – 4:45pm
Oyster Po’ Boy with Chef Ralph Viggianno (HMWI)
2026 Chefs & Mixologists
Chef Journey Kerchner
Kathleen Pigliavento
Chef Carl Weiner
Mixaritas Mobile Bartending
Chef Journey Kerchner is representing Downtown Social in Glens Falls, a casual spot to delight in delicious burgers, wings, and other pub classics while watching games or catching live bands! Check out their website for upcoming live entertainment.
Kathleen has risen to notoriety on the social media account Danny Pigs with her son. Blending their love of cooking with humor and banter, they have gained a following with their fun and informative social media clips!
Chef Carl Weiner is the owner of Sans Souci, a charming restaurant in the east side community of Cleverdale, just 10 minutes outside Lake George Village off Route 9L. Sans Souci offers casual dining and delicious pizza in a welcoming local setting. Carl is hands-on, splitting his time between the front of the house and the kitchen. Besides his culinary pursuits, he is also a practicing CPA. Notably, Carl was the winner of the 2023 & 2025 Sunday Culinary Competition and took Second place in the 2024 competition!
Mixaritas is brought to you by expert mixologists Kelli Hatin & Jenn Berry! Their mobile bartending service delivers the party right to your doorstep, featuring professional and knowledgeable mixologists who craft custom cocktails and mocktails to perfectly suit your event. Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or a girl’s night out, Mixaritas ensures you can sit back and enjoy the fun! Kelli Hatin, Emily Enslow, & Jenn Berry will be representing Mixaritas on Saturday and Sunday!
James Humphreys
Chef Ralph
Viggianno
Chef Vincent Tropepe
Chef Sakari Smithwick
James Humphreys is the representative mixologist for the Bourbon Room in Glens Falls, an elegant speakeasy-style lounge where classic jazz meets craft cocktails and rare bourbons in an atmosphere of sophisticated charm. He’ll be competing in the Sunday Mixology Competition.
Chef Ralph Viggianno has been an executive chef at a beach club in the Hamptons, for over 20 years. He specializes in catering and cooking a wide variety of food. The Viggiano Brothers run the Long Island Shucking Truck! The Long Island Shucking Truck is a traveling raw bar, serving the freshest shellfish sourced from Long Island Sound.
Award-winning Chef Vincent Tropepe is a culinary personality, cookbook author, speaker, restaurant consultant, small business advocate, and designer. Chef Vincent is a culinary school graduate of the Art Institute of New York and the New York Restaurant School. Always wishing to motivate & inspire his customers and wanting to spread the word of inclusion, he firmly believes that through food, art, and community, we can create a much kinder environment for all people. Chef Vincent will be representing the Hospitality Mental Wellness Initiative USA (HMWIUSA) which was founded with a powerful belief: that mental health should never be a taboo subject in the hospitality industry.
Chef Sakari Smithwick is a chef, author, and founder who has been featured on shows like Chopped & Hell’s Kitchen. He pursued a degree in culinary arts, culminating in a Bachelor’s in Restaurant Management from SUNY Delhi. During this time, he was honored as the Student Chef of The Year and secured a Gold Medal as part of Team USA in Costa Rica. Moving to New York City, Chef Sakari showcased his talents in some of the world’s finest restaurants and later expanded to opportunities in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and the Netherlands. He’s also the 2024 ADK Wine & Food Festival Winning Chef! You can find his book, “Savor Your Journey,” out now.
2026 Judges
THE TATI EDIT
Joanne Smart
Tatiana from The Tati Edit will be judging the Sunday Culinary Competition.
Joanne from ADKbites will be judging the Saturday & Sunday Culinary Competitions.
LIBBY'S LIBATIONS
Libby Adams from Libby’s Libations and FLY 92.3 will be judging Sunday’s Cocktail Competition.
2026 Taste NY Culinary & Cocktail Tent Supporters
We want to give a big shoutout to our 2026 supporters of the Taste NY Culinary & Cocktail Tent! THANK YOU for your generous donations that make our festivities possible. Be sure to stop by their booths at the festival!
Sign Up for our Emails
You Could Win Tickets!
Sign up for our email newsletter and not only will you be the first to know about Ticket Deals, festival announcements, and news, but you will automatically get entered into our monthly drawing to win 2 tickets to the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival!