San Antonio’s culinary scene reflects our history. For over 13,000 years, indigenous people foraged roots, harvested pecans, and hunted game. Drawn to the San Antonio River, Spanish colonists, Canary Islanders and European settlers brought new flavors, spices and ingredients from Asia and Africa.
This confluence and crossroads of cultures combined with unique flavors creates a cuisine that is distinct to San Antonio.
Our gastronomic scene is true to its roots but continues to evolve. The culinary schools in our city continue to add emerging chefs to our restaurant scene. San Antonio is home to the only Culinary Institute of America campus in Texas, focused on Latin American cuisine, and to St. Philip’s College -Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts campus. San Antonio also has several programs for high school students, including the Texas Restaurant Association San Antonio Chapter’s Texas ProStart.
As a result, San Antonio’s cultural heritage and culinary scene are a large portion of San Antonio’s robust tourism economy of 34.8 million visitors with an overall economic impact of $19.0 billion.
Pueblos de Maíz is a partnership with UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy and Delice member cities – focused on celebrating maíz, or corn, as a traditional ingredient through a series of events in each city.
Each participating city develops a program with local and visiting chefs to showcase how maíz is incorporated in local foods and beverages. More info on https://www.pueblosdelmaiz.com/
The Chef Ambassador Program is a competitive application process for chefs interested in representing San Antonio’s gastronomy locally, nationally and internationally at various educational events and festivals.
The program not only promotes San Antonio, but also our cultural diversity, preserves our culinary heritage, inspires the next generation of chefs and is an opportunity to share best practices among our chefs and our community.
High school culinary students and chefs from around the world, compete for the best paella dish in three categories: Contemporary, Classical and Critics Choice. The event is hosted by Chef Johnny Hernandez with proceeds benefiting Kitchen Campus, a non-profit organization that connects youth to culinary opportunities.
After years of hard work and wonderful responses from our international members, Délice plans to strengthen the network by extending its global presence.
Délice is seeking cities with a new and innovative approach to food & gastronomy and strong food culture. New members of this exclusive network will have the opportunity to share experiences and best practices worldwide, compare their different approaches, get inspired from each other, create partnerships and stay up to date on the moving trends regarding food & gastronomy.
