There are food festivals and then there are weekends you actually plan your calendar around. SAVOR, the four-day culinary event at Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa, is making a case for the second category. It runs April 30 through May 3 out at the resort on PGA Parkway in Frisco, and the 2026 edition is bigger than last year’s debut in almost every way.
The chef roster alone is worth paying attention to. Scott Conant — James Beard Award winner, Food Network personality, the guy behind some of the best Italian food in the country — is headlining. So is Tiffany Derry of Roots Southern Table, Dean Fearing of Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Maneet Chauhan, Shota Nakajima, Esther Choi, Beau MacMillan, and Kim Canteenwalla and Elizabeth Blau of Crown Block. Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman is there too, which tells you something about the level of local talent they’re pulling in. That’s not a list you throw together. It takes some real effort to get that many serious people in one place for one weekend.
The four days each have a different personality, which is smart. Thursday, April 30 is Masters of Taste — an intimate five-course Italian dinner for exactly 150 people, led by Conant and finished with dessert by Chef Leen Nunn, who won Food Network’s Chopped: Sweets. Every course gets paired with wine by Master Sommelier Erik Elliott of Lawrence Wine Estates. Tickets are $395 per person and sold in pairs only. It runs 6 to 9 p.m. in Panther Creek Pavilion, and if that’s the kind of evening you’re after, don’t wait.
Friday, May 1 is Fork & Fire, which is the interactive tasting night — food stations, handcrafted cocktails, the whole walk-around-and-graze experience with a lineup that includes Conant, Esther Choi, Shota Nakajima, Kevin Lee, Kim Canteenwalla, and Elizabeth Blau. It ends with an acoustic set from John Rzeznik, the Goo Goo Dolls frontman, and a drone show. Tickets are $295. That night is already sold out, so if you were waiting, that ship has sailed…