I'm getting hungry!

Last year was so amazing; everyone brought their "A" game with the most incredible food ever! Well we are feeling the fever already with our dynamite award-winning restaurants bringing it again.

Since you last heard from me, we have heard from some of favorites. Last year's winner of the best booth, decked out like a pirate ship and the girls dressed as the pirates, Sociale Gourmet is back! If I know Donna Harris, she's got another grand idea of what she's doing with her booth. The pirate ship she worked on for two years. I expect nothing less than first place again.

Robert at Starbucks at Mt. Tabor Place has put his hat in the ring again as well. We were so glad to have them with us last year for the first time. It's really hard to beat their French Roast.

Returning this year to defend their title as Best Non-dessert and Best Dessert as well as Best All Around is Chef Anthony Bonner at Village Tavern on Hanes Mall Boulevard! They rocked last year, which was evident from all the votes they received. The line was enormous but no one seemed to mind waiting because they were having so much fun!

And if you were afraid you wouldn't have enough dessert, Nancy Donnelly at Cake Ladies has already confirmed she will be here again this year! She was the one who had the giant cakes with the yummy toppings spooned on top. Nancy's taken home several medals over the years also!

And it would not be Taste of the Town...Derby Style without Debbie Lee with Blue Ridge Ice Creams. Debbie and/or Scott will be with us under their umbrella again this year. I still love the Mint Julep and the Derby Pie ice creams. They are amazing!

Speaking of mint juleps, I'm really getting excited about the Mint Julep Contest. So far we have NOMA, Village Tavern and Carrabba's who can participate in the contest. We're getting all of the voting technology in place so when you stop by to have a mint julep, you can vote for your favorite!

We're off and running!

Everyone here at Family Services is excited about this year's Taste of the Town...Derby Style! It will be Saturday, May 1st, 4-7pm at the Benton Convention Center again! The restaurants have been invited and I'm waiting to hear back from them if they plan on coming. The very first restaurants who've reserved their spots are Carrabba's Italian Grill and NOMA Urban Bar and Grill. They are two of my favorites! Carrabba's hasn't been to Taste in 3 years and we're thrilled to have them back; they always please the crowd. And NOMA, if you don't remember, made the most incredible sliders plus macaroni and cheese (their best seller) last year! They took home several medals as a result too. Things are looking good coming out of the gate!

Speaking of the restaurants, we have a really big announcement for you! In April, we will be holding a NEW Contest ! No pies this time. We will be awarding a prize to the best Mint Julep by one of the participating restaurants! You will be able to go to any of the restaurants and buy a Mint Julep. If you think it is worthy, you can vote online for it. The restaurant that receives the most votes will win! Now that is what I call Derby Style! More on this later!

The committee has decided that we will go back to the live auction format for 2010. The silent auction is a huge amount of work and isn't nearly as entertaining as the live auction. Stay tuned for some of the terrific packages we're working on. I know there is something for everyone.

If you know of someone who would be interested in being a sponsor of Taste of the Town, feel free to have them contact me at swiles@fsifamily.org. Of course all proceeds go to the programs of Family Services, Inc. Next month we will celebrate our 105th birthday and all of the good work our staff has done over those years. If you don't know much about our programs, feel free to visit our website at www.fsifamily.org to learn more.

We're off and running!