EFOC 2025: Everything (And Everyone) You Missed At The Food And Wine Festival

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: (L-R) Brandon Dottin-Haley, Blair Dottin-Haley, Chef Rob, Tamsy Kambi, and Keith Lee judge the Beignet Battle during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture presented by Coca-Cola – Day 3 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE) By Victoria Uwumarogie ·Updated July 8, 2025 < />

If you were at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans this past weekend and stopped by the Food and Wine Festival, then I’m sure you know a time was had. There were cooking demonstrations, Viola’s Heritage Breads, was crowned as the queen of beignets.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: Carla Briggs, of Viola’s Heritage, cooks onstage during Beignet Battle at the 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture presented by Coca-Cola – Day 3 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

And, of course, in between all of that, there were memorable conversations. The daily Rooted in Wellness series featured the insights of experts in raw and vegan living, the keto life>conversation on alkaline living with her son Legacy Torain.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 05: (L-R) Karleen Roy, Kevin English, and Dominique Fluker speak onstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 05, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

And Keto Coach E and Karleen Roy had plenty to share about trying the keto life>Let’s Toast series, inspired by the ESSENCE column, centered the stories of Black folks making waves in the wine industry, in tequila, and those who’ve embraced sober living in their lives and businesses.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: Ali Ameche and Queen Afua speak onstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture presented by Coca-Cola – Day 3 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

Ingrid Best of IBest Wines, Tia Clarke of Roman Clarke Wines, and Dozie and Buchi Osondu of the Fine Wine Series of wine festivals talked about the growing popularity of wine, though Black folks have always consumed it. Tiffany Hainsworth of T. Capri Tequila, Amber Ferrell-Steele of Zeal Rum, and Shenequa Bucknor, investment portfolio manager for Pronghorn, all spoke to diversifying the spirits lane. And Rhadell Cole of Sober Bar Babe, and chefs Toya Boudy and Tanya Fazande had a gripping discussion about the reasons they chose to be sober from alcohol and the growing desire for people to order mocktails over cocktails, even in a cocktail capitol like New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: (L-R) Victoria Uwumarogie, Tanya Fazande, Toya Boudy and Rhadell Cole speak onstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture presented by Coca-Cola – Day 3 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

Other conversations focused on the food business, as well as creations of the diaspora. That included Bosses At The Table: Changing the Game Through Cuisine and Story with Ingrid Best (previously part of the World of Wine chat) and Adenah Bayoh of Foya Foods. A few others include Beyond the Bayou: Creole Conversations from the Caribbean to NOLA with chefs Charly Pierre and Nina Compton, Bitterleaf to Breadfruit – The Taste of the Diaspora: Culture Served with Purpose with chefs Scottley Innis (previously on the Dinner demo) and Rosemarie Tolbert, and sponsored chats like Jollof vs. Jambalaya with musician Jidenna, Dakar NOLA award-winning chef Serigne Mbaye, and sports broadcaster Ros Gold-Owunde, as well as Celebrating Culinary & Life decoding="async" src="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/GettyImages-2223731626-scaled.jpg" alt="EFOC 2025: Everything (And Everyone) You Missed At The Food And Wine Festival" width="400" height="267" />NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 05: (L-R) Tamar Braxton, Jazz Smollett and Jernard Wells speak onstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 05, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

There was so much gold programming throughout the weekend at all of the ESSENCE Festival activations, but the Food and Wine Festival was certainly a standout. We look forward to seeing the offerings next year (fingers crossed for actual food and wine samples for guests!) and seeing you there, too.

TOPICS:  2025 Essence Festival of Culture food and drinks

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