700 Crave! Food Festival tickets sell out, celebrating unique Billings cuisine

The Crave! NW Food Festival sold out of all 700 tickets for its event on Saturday night.

“This is not a competition. This is all about celebrating the industry and spreading kindness," said Ryan Hendrickson with US Foods, an event sponsor.

Organizers from Spokane, WA said the event aims to aid in countering the annual 80% turnover rate in restaurant ownership with an "all boats rise" mentality.

“Because we don’t want to put too much of a burden on the chefs, we pay them to come here," said Adam Hegsted, co-founder of Crave! NW.

Nick Steen is owner of Walkers and Bin 119 as well as one of 25 featured culinary artists at Saturday night's event.

“For me to be here, it takes two people to staff each restaurant," said Steen, "They’re paying us to cover the cost of food and some of the labor to bring our bodies here.”

After cooking in Billings professionally for the last two decades, Steen said he believes the city is hungry for something fresh — an idea embodied by the food festival's presence.

“You’ve got multiples James Beard nominees within the city limits here," said Steen, "Post COVID, you saw so many people move to the city and be a part of this community, and a young, vibrant group of people that want to see things happen.”