Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival 2026: 5 Hosts in Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach

The 2026 Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival reaches well beyond Palm Beach island. Five of its most useful host restaurants sit inland: four in Palm Beach Gardens and one in downtown West Palm Beach. Together they offer a compact guide to the county’s chef-driven dining scene, from globally influenced small plates and contemporary Indian cooking to French bistro brunch.

The Dec. 10–13 schedule gives each restaurant a distinct assignment. Some events are seated meals with wine pairings; others are more theatrical walk-around experiences. That difference matters when choosing a ticket—and it also hints at the kind of regular-night reservation each host does best.

For festival dates and planning details, visit the official Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival site and review the festival schedule.

Stage Kitchen & Bar, Palm Beach Gardens

Stage hosts SPICE on Thursday, Dec. 10, a four-course seated dinner paired with Bouchaine Vineyards wines. Chef Pushkar Marathe describes the restaurant as a small-plates experience shaped by global influences and grounded in his Indian roots. That combination makes Stage a natural fit for a dinner designed around contrast, spice and wine.

Outside the festival, Stage is best approached as a table-sharing restaurant. Order across the menu instead of treating every plate as a separate entrée, and let the group build its own progression. It is a strong opening-night choice for diners who want the cooking—not resort formality—to lead the evening.

Café Chardonnay, Palm Beach Gardens

Café Chardonnay hosts a four-course Friday lunch with wines from Greg Brewer. The restaurant has long served as a special-occasion address in Palm Beach Gardens, and the midday event leans into that role: a seated menu, deliberate pacing and a wine pairing that deserves the afternoon.

For a standard reservation, Café Chardonnay suits diners looking for a quieter, more traditional fine-dining rhythm. It is also useful during festival week as a separate dinner option for someone who does not hold the same ticket as the rest of the group. Do not treat it as a quick overflow stop; give the dining room its own evening.

Coolinary, Palm Beach Gardens

Coolinary hosts Saturday’s four-course brunch with Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte at 11 a.m. The restaurant’s official menu emphasizes locally sourced starters, mains and desserts, while its neighborhood setting keeps the experience grounded. The Champagne brunch elevates that familiar formula without turning it into an unrelated pop-up.

Coolinary is the Saturday pick for diners who want a full seated brunch before the evening events. Because the meal runs several courses, leave the afternoon open and resist booking another substantial lunch. On a normal night, return for a more flexible dinner and a clearer look at the kitchen’s local, seasonal identity.

Ela Curry & Cocktails, Palm Beach Gardens

Ela hosts Maneet’s Bollywood Experience on Saturday evening, a walk-around tasting paired with Revana Vineyards wines. Marathe and partner Andy Dugard opened Ela as a showcase for culturally focused cooking from across India, spanning street-food ideas and regional dishes. A lively festival format amplifies what is already central to the restaurant: layered spice, variety and a social meal.

Ela is the most energetic evening option in this group. For a regular visit, arrive ready to share and include the cocktail program in the plan. Stage and Ela are related concepts, but they are not interchangeable: Stage ranges widely across global influences, while Ela keeps India at the center.

Pistache French Bistro, West Palm Beach

Pistache hosts Brennan’s Pop-Up on both Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The four-course brunch is part of the festival’s OpenTable Dining Series and brings a New Orleans institution into a downtown West Palm Beach bistro. The location is particularly convenient on Sunday, when the Grand Tasting begins at the nearby convention center at 2 p.m.

On an ordinary weekend, Pistache serves brunch in its own French-bistro voice. Its Clematis Street address also makes it the easiest restaurant here to combine with downtown plans without moving the car repeatedly.

Pick a neighborhood before picking every event

Palm Beach Gardens hosts dominate this list, so Stage, Café Chardonnay, Coolinary and Ela can be grouped into a north-county itinerary. Pistache belongs to a downtown West Palm Beach day, especially on Grand Tasting Sunday. Whichever path you choose, confirm current times, ticket availability and prices on the festival schedule before adding restaurant reservations around the main event.