TerraVITA 4th Annual Food & Wine Event is Oct. 10-12, 2013 in Chapel Hill, NC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Sept. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In three short years, Chapel Hill, North Carolina's popular TerraVITA Food & Wine Event has earned its reputation as a premier culinary event in the Southeast for featuring delicious local and sustainable food and beverages of superior quality.  This October, TerraVITA returns for its fourth year, offering a series of educational and tasting events featuring renowned North Carolina chefs, artisans and makers of top local and sustainable wines, microbrews, coffee and spirits.

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"We are glad to support TerraVITA because of its success in promoting our farm-to-fork, pasture-to-plate reputation in North Carolina," said Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau. "The event has such a great vibe that attracts award-winning chefs from the Triangle area and across North Carolina using products from local farmers, as well as top beverage producers that rely on sustainable practices.  We are pleased to support this culinary event that draws visitors throughout the Southeast and across the country to Chapel Hill and Orange County in central North Carolina.

Tickets are still available for the closing event, the Grand Tasting on the Green in Chapel Hill's Southern Village on Saturday, October 12 from 1 pm – 4:30 pm. Delicious food from exceptional restaurants across North Carolina will be offered alongside more than 100 sustainably-produced beverages from around the globe. Returning favorites include On The Square in Tarboro, French Broad Chocolate Lounge in Asheville, Herons Restaurant from The Umstead Hotel & Spa in Cary, and Acme Food & Beverage in Carrboro; new restaurants and rising stars include Ashten's in Southern Pines, Little Hen in Holly Springs, Spring House in Winston Salem, and Cameo 1900 in Wilmington. For information or tickets, visit www.terravitaevent.com.

Chapel Hill restaurants and food artisans participating during the weekend include The Carolina Inn's Carolina Crossroads Restaurant, Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery & Distillery, the Siena Hotel's Il Palio Ristorante, ONE Restaurant, Foster's Market, Kipos Greek Taverna, Chapel Hill Country Club, Chapel Hill Creamery and Carrboro's Acme Food & Beverage Company. 

In addition organic coffee producers, biodynamic, organically-grown and natural wines, and a dozen sustainably-produced microbrews and local distilleries will also be on site for sipping and sampling. Local participants include Chapel Hill's TOPO Spirits and Chapel Hill Wine Company, Carrboro Coffee Roasters, Joe Van Gogh, De Maison Selections, and Hillsborough's Mystery Brewing Company and Mo's Bottle Shop. Live music and a silent and live auction benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will take place under the Grand Tasting Tent at Southern Village in the southern part of Chapel Hill off of US Hwy 15-501. 

As in years past, TerraVITA has set the additional goal of producing a zero waste event by employing the intensive use of compostable and recyclable goods and recycling nearly all of the waste produced at the event.

For details on the other events taking place during TerraVITA's three-day festival including a Harvest Dinner (October 10), Sustainable Classroom culinary workshops and tastings (October 11), and an evening East Meets West Dinner (October 11), again visit www.terravitaevent.com.

New to this year's event is a TerraVITA Small Plate Crawl.  As a way to involve even more local restaurants, the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and TerraVITA are introducing the TerraVITA Small Plate Crawl on the weekend of Friday, October 4 - Sunday, October 6 (the weekend before the TerraVITA Food & Wine Event).  To date, more than 15 restaurants and bars in downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro are participating in the TerraVITA Small Plate Crawl by providing a 100% locally sourced small plate or cocktail  to get a fabulous taste of local North Carolina food & drink. For more information, visit www.downtownchapelhill.com or www.tinyurl.com/smallplate.

For additional information about visiting Chapel Hill and Orange County, NC call the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau toll free at 1-888-968-2060 or visit www.visitchapelhill.org.

SOURCE Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau