Charc Week, the annual celebration of real, handcrafted food, features more than 30 restaurants in Texas and Florida.

Now in its fifth year, Charc Week has grown from a handful of restaurants in San Antonio to an effort that has spread throughout Texas and into Florida. It began when Michael Sohocki, the chef/owner of Restaurant Gwendolyn, decided to celebrate the skill and tradition of preserving meats. From that beginning, the chefs who joined this effort have transformed one of humanity’s oldest forms of preserving meats into hip attractions at the nation’s most forward-thinking restaurants.

These celebrations of house-cured meats, pâtés, rillettes, terrines and salumi along with pickled vegetables and housemade jams, often thought of as cool weather fare, now offer a highlight of summertime dining.

The rules for Charc Week are simple:

• Participating restaurants must be in control of their own menu
• They must make everything on the plate (other than naturally occurring components like salt crystals or honey) Each plate has to have at least four charcuterie items.
• Pricing tiers are at (A) $15 or (B) $25
• Each restaurant will donate (A)$1 or (B)$2 to their local food bank.

Participating restaurants in San Antonio include (hours vary by restaurant):

• Antlers Lodge - Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa
• Battalion
• Biga on the Banks
• Bite
• Bliss
• Boiler House Texas Grill & Wine Garden
• Chocollazo
• The Cookhouse
• Crossroads Kitchen
• Cullum’s Attagirl​
• Edera Osteria Enoteca
• El Machito
• Embassy Suites - Riverwalk
• Esquire Tavern
• Feast
• The Granary ’Cue & Brew
• Grayze
• Gwendolyn
• Il Forno
• Kimura​
• Little Gretel (Boerne)
• Ostra​
• Rebelle​
• Rosella Coffee Co.
• sage at The Brooklynite
• Signature
• Southerleigh Fine Food and Brewery
• Toro Kitchen and Bar
• The Well