GastroMagic - The First Culinary Stage at Outside Lands

Outside Lands is a very interesting music festival in that it's almost as much about the food, wine, beer, and other treats than it is about the music. In true San Francisco style, there is a plethora of amazing foodie treats to enjoy with your music. However, this year, they're taking it up a notch and giving you some official food pairings. Musicians and San Francisco culinary stars are coming together at the GastroMagic stage. The GastroMagic stage will have shows from about 1:30 PM to 8:00 Pm every day so it's a great place to stop by if you have a gap in your schedule. Here are my picks for the weekend.

Cocktails and Bacon

Wait what? You heard correctly! Right outside the GastroMagic tent there will be cocktails and bacon. If you love fancy drinks you can get a hand crafted cocktail from the mixologists of 15 Romolo, 1760, Alembic, The Homestead, Local Edition and Hotsy Totsy. I've had drinks at about half of those places and they are awesome. I'm really looked forward to trying something from Alembic though - I've heard amazing things for years and still haven't made it there (which is really terrible on my part). The area is also introducing... BACON LAND where there will be a Bacon Flight (a selection of the countries best bacons) and other bacon goodies. I was already planning on spending a lot of time here but with bacon and cocktails in the vicinity, I'll probably never leave.

Offal Good Music featuring Chris Cosentino

Chris Costentina, winner of Top Chef Masters and executive chef of Porcellino (formerly Incanto), will team up with a musician to talk about music, food, and skateboarding. It promises to be an Offal good time!

Beignets & Bounce Brunch with Big Freedia and Brenda’s French Soul Food

Brenda's French Soul Food is well known in the city for having awesome beignets and really long lines for brunch. If you don't want to wait a couple of hours in line for brunch this weekend, you can try to win some of Brenda's beignets by showing off your twerk.

Duck Sauce Soirée featuring Duck Sauce and Brandon Jew

This little party with feature music by Duck Sauce while Brandon Jew, the chef at the Chino, will serve tasty bites to the audience.

BBQ & Drank feat Lewis Black, Dave McLean, Paul Grieco, Dave Smith & Southpaw BBQ

Comedian Lewis Black will join a panel of judges to answer the age old question: What goes best with BBQ - beer, wine, or bourbon? My vote is for all three!

Breakdown Breakdance: Fatted Calf vs Avedano

SF butcher shops Fatted Calf and Avedano compete to see who can break down a pig the best while break dancers break down dance moves on stage. Wow, try to say fast...

Food Fight: Marlowe vs Park Tavern hosted by Craig Robinson

Marlowe and Park Tavern compete in kitchen trivia and challenges hosted by comedian Craig Robinson. Which of the two sister restaurants will come out on top??


I'll definitely be spending quite a bit of time at the GastroMagic stage nomming on flights of bacon!