It has taken six years for Ken Loyst and Michelle Metter to show the world that San Diego is a lush playground for winos and foodies. Since launching the annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival in 2004, they have introduced to the region hundreds of distinguished winemakers from California and beyond while spotlighting scores of locally based chefs and culinary authors who are either already famous or aspiring to become so.

Along the way, they have also attracted press coverage for the event in Forbes Traveler, The Wall Street Journal, Saveur and The Los Angeles Times, which named the festival last year as one of its “favorites in the country.”

The festival has evolved into a five-day affair of wine tastings and cooking classes held at various venues. It culminates with an extravagant “grand tasting,” scheduled this year at Embarcadero Park North on Saturday, Nov. 21, from noon to 4 p.m. It is here where more than 5,000 visitors will converge to savor the offerings from 60 regional restaurants and 170 wineries hailing largely from Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles.

But fear not. Street-fair grub and cheap bulk wines are never part of the mix.

All of the chefs and restaurants that take part in the grand tasting eagerly contend for $50,000 in cash and prizes in “Chef of the Fest,” a competition for best dish decided by judges from the American Culinary Federation. Last year’s winner was Chef David McIntyre of the now-defunct Crescent Heights Restaurant and Lounge. He won for baby beet and burrata salad with roasted peppers, marinated tomatoes and pistou (Provence-style pesto).

The food samplings are kept a guarded secret, although visitors in past years have encountered everything from filet mignon and lobster bisque to duck confit and decadent desserts. Participants for Saturday include a slew of reputable steakhouses such as Morton’s, Flemings, Suite and Tender, Island Prime and Palm Restaurant, plus numerous restaurants of other persuasions like Indigo Grill, The Shores, Terra Restaurant, Kitchen 1540, Harney Sushi, House of Blues and Nobu, to name a few.

As for the wines, Metter says visitors will discover dozens of small-production varietals from family winemakers yet to reach the Southern California market, or that are just now launching their latest releases. The trod will combine familiar names with those found on the offroads of popular grape regions. The list includes Artesa, Kautz Family Vineyards, Trinitas Cellars, Wily Jack, Lone Madrone, Leal Vineyards, Snap Drago and many more.

The grounds will also give way to a Cooking Light pavilion for specialty wine pourings and a wine pairing demonstration with California almonds. A new Stella Artois pavilion marks the spot for Belgian beer tastings while a handful of cookbook authors sign their latest works at the Borders Bookstore Tent.

Admission is $150 or $175, which permits guests to enter the event an hour earlier, at 11 a.m. A portion of the proceeds benefit the American Institute of Wine and Food. For more information, call 858-578-9463 or visit www.WorldofWineEvents.com.