When Gramercy Tavern's Danny Meyer touches down, David Cheng bears leg in shorts, Ming Tsai makes it through TSA security without his signature ceramic knives, and José Andrés unpacks his suitcase, it's a traditional signal that the Food & Wine Classic has kicked off and summer in Aspen has truly begun!

For more than 25 years, just as the mountain exhales from ski season, the gondolas and chair lifts find themselves full again, not with skiers, but rather with passionate foodies, hungering journalists, and luminaries from all areas of the food and wine industry. For a few days, I recommend cooking from home, because kitchens everywhere are missing their chefs.

Oh, and where there are chefs, wine, champagne, mixologists, restaurateurs, food, media, and a healthy dose of competition -- there will be parties!

The wide-adoption of Bravo's Top Chef, hungry food bloggers, and the proliferation of the chef-as-celebrity in American media culture has transformed this annual event into a reality show soiree. Well-known media mavens even find getting press passes to the event a darker-than-usual task.

For any number of reasons . . . .

* the current economy
* the cult-like following of today's kitchen revolutionaries
* the growth of the roster of "must-haves"
* the sheer fact that even "great eaters" can't eat, drink, and party alongside industry bests for 3 straight days and desperately need to play it safe and make it a one-day romp

. . . . but this year's varied ticket offerings seem to be opening the event up to more attendees in various capacities than ever before.

In the coming days, we'll be blogging about the attendees, the individual events, the major themes being discussed, the lasting impact of the festival (what goes on long after the demos and parties end), and challenging you to help us share some well-kept secrets and create a Guide to Navigating the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.

Tips, hints, photos and more can be shared with John and Chrissie at editors@plumtv.com or in the comments section below!

 Watch Plum Footage from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen