Over the years, the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage has risen in popularity to become one of the main attractions at BottleRock Napa Valley.
Festival-goers flock to this stage to watch some incredibly fun cooking demonstrations, mixing top chefs with big-name pro athletes, pop/rock stars and other celebrities.
This year’s lineup includes Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, actors Bradley Cooper and Cameron Diaz, Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee and others appearing alongside such celebrity chefs as Alton Brown, José Andrés, Andrew Zimmern and Aarón Sánchez.
KCBS’ “Foodie Chap” Liam Mayclem will once again serve as host.
On the eve of BottleRock 2024, Mayclem gave us a behind-the-scenes breakdown of what people should expect to see on the culinary stage during the three-day festival, which May 24-26 at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa.
Here’s a look at some highlights with commentary from Mayclem.
Stephen Curry, Bradley Cooper, Jose Andres (5:15 p.m. Saturday, May 25)
“I think the biggest set of the weekend brings together three G.O.A.T.s (Greatest of All Time) — A G.O.A.T. chef who’s Andre, a G.O.A.T. basketball player — Steph Curry — and a G.O.A.T. when it comes to acting, Bradley Cooper. So what do you do with three G.O.A.T.s. Well, you make Philly cheesesteaks. Bradley Cooper launched a Philly cheesesteak (business). It’s like a food truck. He has a couple, actually. And so he’s coming to Napa to show his chef skills with Chef Andres and with Stephen and make Philly cheesesteaks. Also, (Curry) has launched his own bourbon — Gentleman’s Cut. So, we’re going to be serving and pairing his bourbon with the Philly cheesesteaks.”
Cameron Diaz, Katherine Power, Nelly, Tinx (4:30 p.m. Friday, May 24)
“So, listen, Cameron Diaz, we know for the movies. We know all the history. But the thing she’s really into now is organic wine. She’s bringing it to Napa to reach an audience here. And it’s a rosé called Avaline. So, we’re going to be focused not on movies — we’re focusing purely on Cameron Diaz, the winemaker, and this project with her bestie of many years, Katherine Power. And (Diaz) loves to throw parties, so we invited a couple of guests to the party. Cameron’s going to be cooking, and we’re going to have a couple of guests. One of the guests will be Nelly, so it’s going to get hot in the kitchen because Nelly is going to show up, and taste the food, and drink her rosé.
Tommy Lee, Tyler Florence (7:30 p.m. Friday, May 24)
“Two rock stars and two very different worlds. But they both cross over. Tyler, rock star chef who also DJs. Tommy Lee, we know him as a rock star. But fun fact, he also loves to cook. And on Instagram, if you follow him, you’ll see he often does little cooking demos. He’s also a DJ. So, rock stars, rock star chefs, all coming together in our culinary stew.”
The Offspring, Alton Brown (4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 26)
“One of the guys from The Offspring — Dexter Holland — went to college to be a scientist. So, he’s a mad scientist. Alton Brown, as we know, is a mad scientist. So (Brown’s) going to be bringing a contraption that cooks the — he says — tastiest, spiciest, hottest, chicken wings ever. He’s also going to bring his wheel of hot sauce, and we will spin the wheel, and we’ll see how hot it goes. I’m assuming we’re going to take it all the way to 11.”
