Thousands flock to BottleRock’s culinary stage in Napa for Bradley Cooper and Stephen Curry (2024)

Late Saturday afternoon, BottleRockers took a break from the music to watch a trio of superstars — Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper, Golden State Warriors MVP Stephen Curry, and James Beard award-winning chef José Andrés—guzzle bourbon and throw cheesesteaks at them.

Their chaotic and electrifying 5:15 p.m. performance drew one of the largest crowds of the weekend to the Napa festival’s culinary stage, which gives celebrities a chance to promote their latest food endeavors while also getting to cook alongside some of the world’s most renowned chefs.

According to a BottleRock spokesperson, it was the biggest crowd in the culinary stage’s nine-year history.

From the stage’s 2015 inception in partnership with Williams-Sonoma, the concept has been a hit with festivalgoers. The first major pairing on the culinary stage was Snoop Dogg with the restaurateur and "Iron Chef" Masamaru Morimoto. During their set, Morimoto taught Snoop Dogg how to roll something tastier than cannabis – sushi.

BottleRock’s spokesperson Tom Fuller said that it was that pairing that launched the stage to notoriety.

“Every chef wants to be a rock star; every rock star wants to be a chef. Getting them together, there’s all this amazing chemistry,” he said.

Since then, the culinary stage has seen the likes of Cheech & Chong, Martha Stewart, Ayesha Curry, Questlove, Dave Grohl, E-40 and Lil Nas X.

This year's BottleRockers were overwhelmingly excited to see the trio of superstars. Santa Rosa resident Annmerie Hall, 42, was drawn to the barricade by Cooper, but was equally pumped to see the group together.

“It’s a trifecta,” Hall said.

The crowd of all ages watched an initially empty stage with bated breath as the DJ played Bay Area rapper E-40’s Warriors remix of his classic “Choices.”

Andrés, the Spanish chef making his fourth appearance on the culinary stage,got the first introduction, acting as the stage’s hype man for the half-hour performance.

“Guys, are we not in the best place on earth?” Andrés said.

Then pandemonium ensued.

Curry, the Warriors' legendary three-point shooter and four-time NBA champion took the stage, signed some Warriors sneakers thrown onto the stage and then got to business promoting his new venture, Gentlemen’s Cut Bourbon.

“I know we’re in wine country, but it’s nice to change it up,” Curry said.

The two fed off each other's energy, and then began feeding the people by throwing Frisbees plastic-wrapped with ibéricoham slices into the crowd. Chip bags were also launched into the crowd, which then gave Andrés an idea.

“I want to do hoops with you,” he said to Curry.

The two played a friendly pickup game, taking turns throwing chips into a plastic basketball net. Once their bellies had been warmed by Curry’s signature bourbon,Andrés wanted to show the crowd his Spanish-American twist on the Philadelphia cheesesteak – which took shape as a hollow bread puff filled with cheese mousse and topped with more ibérico and a caramelized onion paste.

Cooper, who recently started making cheesesteaks with Philly native Danny DiGiampietro, came to shut down Andrés’, well, twist on an American classic.

“I went to Philadelphia and saw the most incredible baker, Danny, had the cheesesteak I’ve ever had in my life,” Cooper said.

Cooper and DiGiampietro looked as if they had just finished their shifts as line cooks, hauling a tray of premade sandwiches, launching them in different directions at the crowd with help from Curry and Andrés.

In between cheesesteaks, Andrés threw on a Warriors jersey and downed bourbon out of a Spanish porrón, a glass wine pitcher, until it was gone. Cooper and Andrés also did their own rendition of “Shallow,” the Oscar-winning song from Bradley Cooper’s 2018 remake of “A Star is Born” co-starring Lady Gaga.

As their 30-minute tornado of a performance started to wrap up, the Michelin-star French chef Dominique Crenn popped out from the side of the stage to ham it up and cheekily discuss the upcoming Paris Olympics with Curry, who says he's prepared to win gold this summer with the U.S. basketball team.

Andrés then took a moment to discuss togetherness.

“We must always be on the side of humanity," he said. "What you don’t want to happen to you, you don’t wish to happen to others. This is the spirit of BottleRock.”

After the show was done, some audience members lined up to buy cheesesteaks from Cooper and DiGiampietro, while others discussed the free sandwiches they got to sample in the crowd and the other events of the festival weekend.

Hall was able to get a bite of Andrés’ take on the cheesesteak, noting the bread was similar to that of a pita chip, and it was intensely flavorful.

The culinary stage was one of the main reasons 31-year-old Tareyn White booked a ticket, particularly to see Cameron Diaz promote her wine brand Avaline.

“She’s so beautiful, she’s amazing, her smashburgers were so good,” White said. “The whole culinary stage was riddled with good people.”

Sunday’s culinary lineup kicked off with acclaimed chef and food writer Andrew Zimmern teaming up with rapper and chef Action Bronson at 3 p.m. Chef Melissa King and the Canadian rock band, The Beaches closed out the 2024 culinary stage at 7:30 p.m.