Thursday, November 21, 2024



Taste of Winter Park 2012 – Recap

Tonight I had a wonderful time judging for the Taste of Winter Park 2012 to benefit the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. Held at the Winter Park Farmer’s Market area, it was a crazy, packed event full of people in the community and food lovers together with local restaurants and businesses. This was my first time I attended the event and it was an honor to judge along with esteemed local food critics and journalists such as Scott Joseph, Heather McPherson, Scott Richardson, Anjali Fluker, Pam Brandon/Katie Farmand, and Rona Gindin.

The winners of the event were:

· Best Entrée – The Ravenous Pig – Lobster Hot dog

· Best Appetizer/Side Dish – Mi Tomatina – Sherry Braised Oxtail marmalade

· Best Dessert – The Bohemian Baker – Delicate Lavender Tea Cake with Chambord Icing

· Best Healthy Dish – The Ancient Olive – Waterkist Farms heirloom tomato salad

· Best Booth Display – 4 Rivers Smokehouse – they brought in a statue of a bull!

The event overall was very fun, though they could use some more drink stations and garbage bins to allow for easier flow and sampling. Kudos to all the volunteers out there tonight for doing such a fantastic job for the community.

My favorite dessert for the evening was Luma on Park ‘s Pastry Chef Brian Cernell’s Florida Peach dish. I also thought iCrave Catering‘s fried black bean cake and baked wonton skins were awesome as a side as well, creamy, slightly crunchy, savory and all around a delight . It was fun experiencing food from new places. Bravo to all the chefs, restaurants, markets, and businesses who made the event such a success!

 

Here are the photos!

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The Meat House

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Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

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4 Rivers ‘ John Rivers

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PF Chang’s lettuce wraps

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Fleming’s steak and shrimp item

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Orlando Ale House serving their zingers

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Salmon Burgers from Winter Park Fish company

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The Ravenous Pig’s Sous Chef Rhys Gawlak

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Dessert from The Ravenous Pig, also peach themed

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Lobster hot dog and sausage from the Ravenous Pig, missing the buns

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The Ravenous Pig released their first beer tonight and the keg is tapped out

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Fiddler’s Green ‘s mashed potato dish

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Olive Garden is a popular place

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Pastry Chef Brian Cernell of Luma on Park prepping the goods

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Theresa Smith of Luma on Park representing

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Pastry Chef Brian Cernell of Luma on Park’s FloridaPeaches dish

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Luma’s mason jars

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WMFE 90.7 FM’s Melissa David and Nicole Creston representing the best station in Central Florida

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Shula’s of Disney’s Swan and Dolphin serving up steaks with some horse radish sauce

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Whole Foods representing

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The menu at Shula’s is on a football

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BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp from Shula’s of Swan and Dolphin

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Everyone should Eat More Produce!

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 Jeremiah’s, what’s not to love?

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Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen

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Menchie’s mascot breaking it down with the drum roll

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Kendra Lott of Edible Orlando breaking it down

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John Rivers #winning

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Best Booth – 4 Rivers!

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Ron Raike, new Brewmaster for the Cask and Larder, happy to start working with The Ravenous Pig Family

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Scott Joseph’s Restaurant Guide 2012, now available on Amazon.com









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3 COMMENTS

    • Hey Annie! the winter park fish company has a food truck and a sit down restaurant. their fish is fresh but it can get pricey. the ravenous pig has some great seasonal dishes as well as staples like their pub burger…one of the best in town. cask and larder set to open this august