The Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience (HWFE) returned for its fourth year, May 15-18, 2025, transforming this vibrant corner of Sonoma County into a destination for culinary enthusiasts. The annual festival celebrates the region’s rich agricultural heritage, showcasing local farmers, vintners, and chefs alongside international talent. With a focus on sustainable farming and collaboration, HWFE offers attendees a chance to indulge in world-class wines, gourmet dishes, and immersive events that highlight the best of Sonoma County.
Steve Dveris, founder and CEO of HWFE, launched the festival in 2022 to elevate Healdsburg as a world-class culinary destination. “I was blown away when I first moved to Northern California from Los Angeles,” he says. A seasoned producer of national food and wine events, he brought his expertise to Sonoma County to create something uniquely regional yet globally relevant. “I always loved Healdsburg, and I think it’s evolved into the destination in wine country,” said Dveris. “It’s a great place to have a food and wine festival because it’s so close to agriculture—where the produce and the grapes are grown. It’s upscale and has great chefs, art galleries, and tasting rooms. It has more character than anywhere else.” Historically, wine country could be rather insular: Sonoma wine here, Napa wine over there. Dveris’ goal was to break down those walls, showcasing the entire region’s offerings alongside some of the best from around the world.
Chef Dustin Valette, often referred to as “the mayor of Healdsburg,” met Dveris at a wine dinner several years ago. A native of Sonoma and a prominent figure in the local culinary scene, he immediately knew he wanted to be involved in the vision for HWFE. His restaurant, The Matheson, has since become a central hub for the festival—including the VIP Reserve Lounge on its rooftop, where guests enjoyed chef-curated bites during the HWFE Grand Tasting on Saturday, May 17. The same evening, it hosted a pre-party with renowned chefs Lee Anne Wong and Viet Pham, featuring an extravagant spread of bites paired with reserve wines. All of it led up to what many consider the highlight of HWFE: the Big Bottle Party. Hosted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri at The Matheson, guests indulged in Osetra caviar bites and yellowfin tuna poke with wakame and a barrel-aged soy and kombu emulsion, paired with large-format pours from Sonoma County and international producers. A high-energy soundtrack by Wonder Bread 5 kept the celebration going late into the night, with Food Network chefs Antonia Lofaso, Crista Luedtke, Maneet Chauhan, and Stephanie Izard joining Dveris and dozens of wine and food lovers on the dancefloor.
The Matheson, which opened to great acclaim in fall 2021, is emblematic of Healdsburg’s evolution. “We created this restaurant to celebrate where we’re going,” said Valette. “We wanted to create a restaurant that breaks bread, brings our community together, and shows off where we are.” Chef Valette’s involvement in HWFE reflects his dedication to spotlighting local farmers and artisans and contributing to the festival’s mission of honoring Sonoma County’s agricultural and gastronomic roots. “This is a sleepy little town, middle of wine country, population 10,000… and [now] we’re hosting Healdsburg Wine & Food. It just gives me goosebumps.” He gestures to a nearby painting of his great-grandfather, Honoré, a French immigrant who opened a bakery in Healdsburg over a century ago. He sold it in the 1920s, but Valette was able to purchase that same building—now home to The Matheson—and restore it with the vision that it would serve the community for the next 100 years. “We’re so fortunate to showcase not just what I do as a chef, but all these amazing chefs,” says Valette of participating in events like HWFE. As we speak, Chef Pham is upstairs mingling on the rooftop lounge, and Chef Wong is in the kitchen doing prep for the pre-party. Meanwhile, Fieri is flying into town between professional and personal commitments in Texas and L.A. As a friend and neighbor of Valette, it will be his second year hosting the Big Bottle Party. “All these incredible, talented chefs are coming here, to our little community—where we live, where we farm. [Healdsburg Wine & Food] brings everyone here. It really showcases who we are; how important food and wine is to us. It gives us a forum to express our creativity and to tell our story.”
Though the festival is already expanding rapidly—“Chefs are calling and saying, ‘How do we get involved?’” says Dveris—his vision is even bigger. “I’d like this to be one of the greatest wine and food festivals in the world.” What makes Healdsburg unique, he says, is that the events take place right where the food and wine are produced. “If you go to other [festivals], they’re not where the wineries are. When we do a lunch or dinner [for Healdsburg Wine & Food], we can do it in a winery that looks spectacular. Sonoma County is so beautiful—the ambiance is already there. The produce is the best in the world. The chefs have more bounty here than anywhere else in America.”
Valette agrees: “This, to me, is the absolute best part about Healdsburg Wine & Food. We get to showcase not just what I do, but the collective [that] we are. We have a hundred wineries. We have artisans and craft makers. We have people so passionate about this, they devote their lives to it. For us to be able to see that and help tell that story—to give them a platform—that’s why I built this restaurant. That’s what wakes me up in the morning.” Adds Dveris, “Chefs love coming here. They get the best produce, the best grapes, the best wine. So they’re happy—and happy chefs make happy guests.”
For more information on the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience and future events, visit healdsburgwineandfood.com.
Photos: Galdones Photography/HWFE