More good news! I just received confirmation that The Old Fourth Street Filling Station will once again be joining us at the Taste of the Town! They’re the ones that have the fabulous giant chocolate fountain and every goodie imaginable to dip into it…marshmallows, strawberries, pretzels, cake, rice crispie treats, you name it! Adam Andrews, Chef and GM, informed me that he has revised their dinner menu and it will be available on Monday, April 5th. He also said the lunch menu has changed this week as well so check it out! They're really ramping up for Easter brunch; they'll open at 10am this Sunday! I was out on their patio last night with everyone in Winston I think, a sure sign of Spring!
Speaking of Spring…and Taste of the Town…. Nothing says Kentucky Derby like a Mint Julep!
Beginning Friday, get out to our restaurants that have full bars and get a Mint Julep. Then you can come back to this blog and vote. We will have a Survey Monkey link here that you can click on and vote for your favorite restaurant’s Mint Julep. Don't forget that the only places competing so far are (in alphabetical order):
Carrabba’s Italian Grill,
Jimmy’s Seafood & Oyster Bar,
Meridian Restaurant,
NOMA,
The Old Fourth Street Filling Station and
Village Tavern at Hanes Mall Blvd.
We will announce the winner of the contest at the Taste of the Town.
Speaking of which, I’m delivering tickets to the Lowes Food stores in the area today and tomorrow so when you are ready to buy your tickets to Taste of the Town, they’ll be there. They are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Kids 6-12 are $10 (those tickets you can get at the door) and kids under 6 are free.
You can also buy tickets online at our website, www.fsifamily.org where there is a link to Brown Paper Ticket. Can't wait to see you at the Taste!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Meridian and Ollie's sign on
I was so pleased to hear from Trevor Dye at Meridian that they will be back to Taste of the Town this year! There is always something going on at Meridian these days! They have numerous events coming up in April including a wine dinner april 14th with Hanover Park Vineyards, cooking class (Artichokes!) April 21st and Easter Brunch this Sunday. Go to their website, www.meridianws.com to see all that's happening at this hip place!
Right across from Meridian on Marshall Street is a fabulous place to start your morning, have lunch or an afternoon pick-me-up. Ollie's Bakery of course! Yes, Ollie's is finally coming to Taste of the Town! I've been trying for years to lure them in but it's finally going to happen! And let me tell you, if you haven't been lately, you need to try it. They have the most enticing array of elegant pastries that you may have ever seen. It is pure heaven! Their website, www.olliesbakeryws.com has coupons too so check it out before you head out.
Be sure to check out the list on the sidebar of restaurants. If you click on the name, it will take you to their website automatically!
Tickets will be here soon for the Taste and we'll be distributing them to Lowes Foods for sale at their Customer Service desks plus we'll be selling tickets online at www.BrownPaperTicket.com. As soon as the dates of availability are set, I'll let you know when you can buy tickets.
Right across from Meridian on Marshall Street is a fabulous place to start your morning, have lunch or an afternoon pick-me-up. Ollie's Bakery of course! Yes, Ollie's is finally coming to Taste of the Town! I've been trying for years to lure them in but it's finally going to happen! And let me tell you, if you haven't been lately, you need to try it. They have the most enticing array of elegant pastries that you may have ever seen. It is pure heaven! Their website, www.olliesbakeryws.com has coupons too so check it out before you head out.
Be sure to check out the list on the sidebar of restaurants. If you click on the name, it will take you to their website automatically!
Tickets will be here soon for the Taste and we'll be distributing them to Lowes Foods for sale at their Customer Service desks plus we'll be selling tickets online at www.BrownPaperTicket.com. As soon as the dates of availability are set, I'll let you know when you can buy tickets.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Looking for us on Twitter or Facebook?
My buddy Lamaya who is also on the Taste of the Town committee is in charge of all things social media around here at Family Services, Inc. You'll be able to keep up with what's happening at the agency as well as Taste of the Town!
Meanwhile, we're very excited to announce that Triad Community Kitchen will be returning to the Taste of the Town this year! Triad Community Kitchen is a program of the Second Harvest Food Bank. It is a cooking school and caterer; last year they took the top prize from our illustrious professional judges, Al Romano, Instructor in GTCC's Culinary Technology Program; Chef Darren McCorkle, Executive Chef at WSSU; and of course Michael Hastings, Food Editor for the Winston-Salem Journal.
William Webster is Triad's Catering Chef in charge of this year's team as he was last year when they won. We have used Triad Community Kitchen to cater events here at Family Services, including our Christmas party for staff. They do a wonderful job!
More later....
Friday, March 5, 2010
The flavor is building at Taste of the Town!
Can you smell it? Can you taste it? No? Well you haven't been hanging out where I have in that case. We have added a couple more names to the list of Taste of the Town participants since I last wrote.
Our friends at Costco notified us that they will be back this year with some terrific food choices. They provided all of the beautiful yellow roses you saw around the ballroom last year. They have the best flowers!
Yesterday I was lucky enough to have a long chat with Robert Moreau at Bib's Downtown and convince him that Taste of the Town is the place to be on May 1st! I am thrilled to have Bib's represented this year; they are such a different kind of place. It's not your uncle's barbecue place, but they smoke their meats, including beef brisket (my favorite), pulled pork, turkey and sausages in this giant red smoker. Then they serve them up in a sandwich or a plate with the most wonderful sides. The baked beans are the best around; they're sweet and spicey! And of course you get hush puppies, but not your run of the mill hush puppies. They have sage in them and they are delicious! All this and they're downtown Winston-Salem on 5th St. across from the main library, with plenty of parking.
Robert's excited about participating this year. I know they are already planning what they'll bring and how they'll decorate their booth!
For now, in the sidebar, if you click on a restaurant, it will take you directly to their website. Get out and try some new restaurants this weekend! If we don't support the economy, who will?
Our friends at Costco notified us that they will be back this year with some terrific food choices. They provided all of the beautiful yellow roses you saw around the ballroom last year. They have the best flowers!
Yesterday I was lucky enough to have a long chat with Robert Moreau at Bib's Downtown and convince him that Taste of the Town is the place to be on May 1st! I am thrilled to have Bib's represented this year; they are such a different kind of place. It's not your uncle's barbecue place, but they smoke their meats, including beef brisket (my favorite), pulled pork, turkey and sausages in this giant red smoker. Then they serve them up in a sandwich or a plate with the most wonderful sides. The baked beans are the best around; they're sweet and spicey! And of course you get hush puppies, but not your run of the mill hush puppies. They have sage in them and they are delicious! All this and they're downtown Winston-Salem on 5th St. across from the main library, with plenty of parking.
Robert's excited about participating this year. I know they are already planning what they'll bring and how they'll decorate their booth!
For now, in the sidebar, if you click on a restaurant, it will take you directly to their website. Get out and try some new restaurants this weekend! If we don't support the economy, who will?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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.
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.
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