This year’s dates are May 31, 2013, through June 16, 2013, and this year’s special three-course menus are priced at $26 or $38 (a sum that, as usual, doesn’t include beverages or tax and gratuity).

More than 100 restaurants, hotels and attractions from all over the entire Coachella Valley — from Desert Hot Springs to Indio — are participating. A complete list is online (from Acqua Pazza in Rancho Mirage to Zin American Bistro in Palm Springs).

Reservations are encouraged, but not required. You’ll be seated if there’s space available.

An experience in agrotourism, the Gourmet Route is also a “discovery network” of traditional food-related companies in the province.

The Gourmet Route’s members are known for their passion for growing and processing fine products using a authentic methods. They will welcome you when you visit, and you can see, listen to, taste, touch and feel the flavors and know-how of their québecois foods.

The stops are marked on a Google map.

The English-language version of the website is admittedly rudimentary, so if you can read French you’ll have a leg up.

(Photo courtesy of La Nougarerie)

As we know, food tourism is one of the hottest sectors of the travel industry, spurred by celebrity chef shows, the Food Network and a renewed emphasis on locavore food and drink.

If you’re involved in growing food or in the food, drink or hospitality businesses, you might want to consider attending the World Food Travel Summit, to be held September 21 through 24, 2013, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Held biennially, it’s the largest event for food tourism professionals.

The theme for this year’s summit is the “New Wave” in food tourism — a cutting edge industry. It’s sponsored by the World Food Travel Association, whose mission is preserving and promoting the world’s food and drink cultures through travel.

The Black Forest has a rich culinary and hotel tradition – you can learn how to make a Black Forest Cake or to cure ham at many modest pensions – but you can also visit the charming town of Baiersbronn, which is home to three of Germany‘s top restaurants which have seven Michelin stars between them.

The tables at Traube Tonbach, the Bareiss, and the Hotel Sackmann are in constant demand and a real source of local pride.

Baiersbronn’s fame and desirability is not just based on Michelin stars however. There are several nearby restaurants, such as Restaurant Meierei and the Andreasstube where the local specialities are a destination for travelers.

Also in the Black Forest — but not in Baiersbronn — the Hotel Dollenberg in Bad Peterstal has an exquisite one Michelin starred restaurant, hundreds of walking and hiking trails as well as incredible spa services.

The Brenners Park Hotel in Baden-Baden is probably Germany’s most famous spa hotel but not so well known is the hotel’s two star Michelin restaurant: the eponymous Brenners Park Restaurant.

At the other end of the Black Forest, Freiburg is home to not only the world-famous university but also the Hotel Colombi, an elegant hotel in the old town steps from the cathedral, with its own baking and pastry making on the premises as well as the Hans Thoma Stube Restaurant that serves local specialities.

In SouthWest Germany, many restaurants are certified members of the Schmeck den Süden, “Taste of the South” movement. This guarantees that only local produce is used in the preparation of meals. In fact, more than 75 hoteliers and restaurateurs have banded together to serve produce that is only grown in the Black Forest – they buy their main ingredients locally and support the local economy.

(Photo of the Anitastube restaurant courtesy of Hotel Sackmann)

This year’s Oysterpalooza will include live music on two stages, a food court, Lagunitas beers served on draft alongside a variety of local reds, whites, rosés, Hurricanes and hand squeezed Margaritas, as well as fresh squeezed lemonade and blueberry iced tea for designated drivers.

Tickets are $15.

(Photo courtesy of Rocker Oysterfeller’s)

London’s Somerset House will host a major retrospective exhibition on a global icon of gastronomy, Ferran Adrià, and the restaurant he built to become the world’s best, elBulli.

Set for July 5 through September 29, 2012, elBulli: Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food will be the world’s first exhibition dedicated to a chef and his restaurant, and will showcase the art of cuisine and cuisine as art by taking a behind-the-scenes look at the legendary laboratory and kitchen of the internationally renowned eatery that delighted diners in Cala Montjoi, Spain (map) for over 50 years.

Charting the evolution of elBulli, the exhibition will feature an in-depth, multimedia display of each of the essential ingredients that make up the culinary creative mastermind of Ferran Adrià and his team: research (handwritten notes and hand-drawn sketches), preparation (plasticine models, which were made for all the dishes served as a means for quality control of color, portion size and position on the plate, and the specially-designed utensils used), presentation (original tasting menus, cutlery laid on the tables and salivating shots of the creations taken from the catalog to be published by Phaidon next year) and plaudits (original restaurant reviews and other press clippings).

Combined with archive footage of the chefs and clientele, the exhibition’s ephemera are testament to Adrià’stalent, genius and ambition. (And, yes, it’s true: elBulli is now closed.)

If you plan to go, you might want to buy your (timed) ticket in advance to be sure you can get in while you’re visiting London.

You’ll find Somerset House on the Strand, London WC2R 1LA, England, United Kingdom (map).

(Image courtesy of Somerset House)

The nanobrewery and pub will serve 30 craft beers on tap, but will also allow the general public to try their hand at beer brewing. Guests can bring their own creative recipe to make, or use one of the brewery’s suggestions. Equipment and ingredients will also be available on-site.

In other beer-related news, a beer garden will soon join the restaurants along the Oakland waterfront. Called Brotzeit Lokal, the Bavarian-inspired restaurant and beer garden will include a boathouse at 1000 Embarcadero, Oakland, California (map). Brotzeit also plans to open later this month.

(Photo courtesy of Visit Oakland)

It’s in Waterworks Park, and the main entrance will be at the intersection of Jefferson and East Perry streets.

The complete schedule is online, but Road Trips Foodies will want to make a beeline for the food vendors (many of whom will be offering freshly-cooked walleye).

(Photo courtesy of Walleye Festival)

Running through May 26, 2013, at Mal Kelapa Gading, La Piazza, and Harris Hotel Kelapa Gading, JFFF is organized by PT Summarecon Agung Tbk. and the Jakarta Tourism Board.

The Food Festival emphasizes Summarecon Kelapa Gading’s image as a city of “a million foods”. An assortment of traditional Indonesian dishes are served with nostalgic flavors at Kampoeng Tempo Doeloe (KTD), while the best wine and cheese products from various countries are introduced at the Wine & Cheese Expo.

This year, the designated theme s “Oud Batavia” (the old city dating back to the days when Indonesia was a Dutch colony). Dishes from some 60 vendors such as Gudeg Pejompongan, Empal Gentong Putra Mang Darma, Ketupat Sayur Rusmini, Nasi Padang Ulanago, Soto Betawi Babeh, Soto Udang Medan Akwang, Tongseng Pak Budi Khas Solo and Kue Putu Bambu Medan will be served, along with such traditional dishes as Otak-otak Petojo An, Rujak Juhi Petojo, Kerak Telor, Tahu Gejrot, Tauge Goreng, Kue Cubit, Selendang Mayang and Es Goyang.

If you’re visiting the island nation this month, be sure to add the Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival to your itinerary.

The menus are being created by 12 of what are considered the best restaurants in Finland: Muru, Demo, Juuri, Aito, Bistro O mat, C, Smör and Toscanini (all of which participated last year) plus newcomers Olo, Luomo, Ask and Gaijin.

The menus that are being created especially for the event are inspired by organic and local food, as well as by domestic wild food. Also, the cutlery will be compostable, and each visitor will receive only one glass for wine tasting.

In addition to the twelve menus, the event features a full program — from chef demonstrations to food and wine tasting and live music.

The four-day festival was held in Helsinki for the first time last year, Road Trips Foodies, and was the first “Taste Of” event in the Nordic region.

(Photo courtesy of Visit Helsinki)