EDIBLE: Of atmospheric Relais & Châteaux GourmetFest Carmel (and Cirque du Soleil).

It was dubbed a “waking dream,” and it delivered. Feathered acrobats leapt and cartwheeled and flipped along a moving conveyor belt, over and through obstacles with spellbinding synchronicity, as the belt’s circular stage spun clockwise. Women – stretched inside 6-foot-diameter rings – rolled around the stage while a trapezist swooped through waterfalls. A man so thoroughly contorted his torso, arms and legs the audience gasped and groaned at the same time.

It happened under a big top in San Jose courtesy of Luzia by Cirque du Soleil, which continues as many as six days a week through March 19 ($47-$170). It may not seem like it at first sniff, but it might be the closest thing to what’s coming March 16-19 to Carmel and Carmel Valley with the fourth annual Relais & Châteaux GourmetFest.

Think about it. Dozens of the best technicians from around the world, performing absurdly precise maneuvers on an exacting timeline that can all feel like a heaven-sent hallucination. And producing something super-hyped that some of the audience has experienced – and fawned over – while matching the anticipation and making it new, different and in some ways better than the memorable installment that preceded it.

GourmetFest creator and restaurateur David Fink leans on a more familiar comparison. “This is the Super Bowl of chefs and wineries,” he says, “but not in a massive way.” He can back that up with a stat that renders analogies unnecessary: This is the largest gathering for Michelin-starred chefs in the country, and quite possibly the planet. Gabriel Kruether, arguably the hottest chef in New York City, just signed on, upping the number of chef stars and star chefs. For the record, Aubergine Executive Chef Justin Cogley, who also acts as host chef for the festival, would enjoy his own Michelin star power if the group wasn’t so arbitrary about its geographical boundaries.

It helps they are all linked to Relais properties, but it’s still no small feat to unite them considering how much is asked of chefs like Daniel Boulud, who leads a cooking demo and lunch at La Playa Carmel 11am March 17 ($195).

The demo-lunches are one thing that leap out from the one-page GourmetFest “events-at-a-glance” for 2017, the most appetizing piece of paper ever printed from my computer. The other is conducted by Michelin three-star Michael Tusk of San Francisco’s Quince a day later.

Also eye-catching: 1) The Terroir of Meursault Perrieres with Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Lafon tasting on March 17 ($595), capped at 60 people who will be happy to know those bottles arrived more than a month ago via Air France, direct from the estate wine houses (often wines this good and this old come from auction or cellar sales); 2) the “rarities of the sea” lunch featuring Japanese savant Shinichiro Takagi’s take on local seaweeds and abalone March 18 ($1,495); and 3) the sheer sticker price at the 28-seat “rarities” dinner ($5,500). It’s 0.1-percenter stuff, yes, though the three-hour closing event brings on a new laid-back venue (Folktale Winery) and a price reachable after a bake sale or two ($150, though the demo-lunches might be a better value). On a related note, Cogley is working on an approachable bar menu for Aubergine that removes the need to harvest organs to buy dinner.

One other thing jumps out among the opulence: a $200 bike ride. Elsewhere that might’ve meant rare Champagne in water bottles and caviar with Clif bars. Here it’s the product of a partnership with a group called NTSQ Velo carrying the motto for destination road biking that goes “ride, stay, eat.”

That has Cogley’s fingerprints all over the handlebars. After a rash decision as a self-described “unfit chef” to try the Big Sur International Marathon in 2014, he’s grown into a full-blown endurance-race freak with an Iron Man under his belt and a 100-kilometer uphill bike race in Spain on the way.

Thanks to partnerships and his visibility – he recently attended Obsession Northcote in England and has a dinner with Yannick Alléno of Paris (who has two Michelin three-star spots) at Opus One in May – he has access to top-flight bike gear. When asked to compare GourmetFest to something us lower-crust laymen might understand, he tends toward endurance racing.

“I’m lucky to have a lot of nice sports equipment come my way,” he says, “and there’s such a difference between a couple hundred dollars and a couple thousand. It’s hard to make that jump [financially], but there’s such a difference between the two, it’s night and day. The way Daniel [Boulud] prepares dover sole, it’s so different than someone at home sautéing it with butter.”

OK, I’ll concede his dover sole beats mine, and take Cogley’s over Fink’s Super Bowl comparison. Not because Cogley has a handle on sports analogies after touring internationally as a pro figure skater and doing 50-mile runs, but because Cogley’s seen Cirque du Soleil six times, in a range of countries. Dude knows an insane show when he sees one.

~ QUICKBITES ~

• Alvarado Street Brewery’s Salinas production facility/tasting room (800-3332) debuted its 40-person outdoor beer garden last week. Dave’s Oyster Shack slings seafood tacos and fried oysters 4-8pm Thursday and Friday.
• Escrow just closed at Post No Bills Craft Beer House (324-4667). More on the blog, www.mcweekly.com.
• The tasting experience at Trio Carmel (250 7714) has new flavor. Odonata Wines of Santa Lucia Highlands has joined the lineup. More on the blog.
• CBS SF Bay Area reports The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office reached a $120,000 settlement in a case against Morgan Hill’s OdeumRestaurant and owner Salvatore Calisi for selling customers tilapia while advertising and charging for petrale sole.
• Tasty Tuesdays at Gordon’s Cafe & Catering (422-4133) on Main Street in Oldtown Salinas goes down through the month of March: appetizer, entree, house wine/beer, $15.
• Turn 12 (372-TURN) has one of the better brunches in town. Now they’ve added a $10 bottomless mimosa with entree purchase, 10am-2pm weekends.
• 1-5pm Saturday, March 4, Dawn’s Dream Winery (659-2649) and the Uganda Fistula Fund hosts a guest bartending event at its Seventh and San Carlos tasting room.
• Still-new Lovers Point Beach Cafe (375-2345) may open a wormhole with this one: a meatloaf panini with sharp cheddar and Russian dressing ($7.50).
• The latest Chef Duel at Folktale Winery Monday, March 6, features Affina’s Kolby Peevers and Quail Lodge’s Brian Kearns ($12, 293-7500).
• Grasing’s (624-6562) presents Mi Sueño 6pm Tuesday, March 14, featuring wines by Rolando Herrera. Four courses includes roast scallops and N.Y. steak.
• Allegro Gourmet Pizzeria (915-0362) presents “Flights & Bites” with Robert Mondavi Winery 6pm March 4 ($60).
• Wines & Vines reports there are now nearly 10,000 wineries across North America. California has 4,202 of those.
• Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberte: “Life is full of adventure… no such thing as a clear pathway.”