Top heritage street food vendors and celebrity chefs from across the globe will soon flock Manila for an exciting five days of gastronomic adventure of local and international street food at the World Street Food Congress (WSFC) 2017.  Happening on May 31 – June 4, 2017 at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, these experts will be sharing insights, developments and opportunities in street food heritage and culture in the World Street Food Dialogue. Over 30 authentic street food vendors from 13 nations, including Philippines, will be flown in to dazzle the foodies at the World Street Food Jamboree component.

Leading the roster of dialogue speakers are Anthony Bourdain, international food and travel celebrity, and Greg Drescher who is currently the vice-president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Joining him are our country’s very own culinary maven, Claude Tayag, who specializes in Kapampangan dishes and owns the famous Bale Datung as well as Sau Del Rosario who is a proud owner of the popular modern Kapampangan café, Café Fleur and 25 Seeds, SARSA’s JP Anglo, and Rafael Jardeleza who is the founder of project director of the annual Tabu-an Western Visayas Ilonggo Heritage Cooking Competition and Food Fair.

Also included in the list of speakers are Mai Pham, author of several award-winning cookbooks including The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table and Flavours of Asia and, Malcolm Lee who is the head chef and owner of the first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, Candlenut, to name a few.
Curated by K.F. Seetoh and organized by Makansutra and presented by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), this year’s WSFC17 is bigger and better with over 50 kinds of street food representing 13 different countries in over 30 stalls plus pop-up booths.

Aside from World Street Food Dialogue, the event will also host the World Street Food Jamboree, where you can sample different local and international street food and at the same time mingle with celebrity chefs at the cooking demo; and the World Street Food Awards, where the best of industry professionals will be awarded.
WSFC is one of the world’s biggest food destinations and with an even bigger and better event this year, it will sure to attract more global attention. This paves the way for the Philippines to be recognized as one of the world’s most go-to food destinations.
Photos and text courtesy of WSFC 2017