Tasting events generate great food, greater generosity
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published June 4, 2003
[Times photo: Jamie Francis]
Hook’s Sushi Bar and Thai Food added Asian flavor to the Taste of Pinellas. The Dragon Roll features shrimp and avocado topped with salmon and the Spicy Crab Roll combines salmon, crab and a spicy Thai sauce.
In Tampa Bay wine and restaurant circles, the word right now is "whew," for the spring season of food and wine tasting for good causes is finally over.
And as A Taste of Pinellas folded up its tents and the tour buses of the B-52's and Neville Brothers moved on, the word from the counting houses up and down the Gulf sounded more like "Wow!"
In fewer than six months, tastings and auctions that drew thousands raised almost $7-million for charitable causes.
That's $2-million more than last year despite a tough economy that strained both patrons and restaurants. For the sponsors, it often meant donating food and wine, hauling ingredients and equipment on and off site, plus staffing the booth, in exchange for a little exposure and a lot of good.
Some events around Tampa Bay matched last year's donations or came in a little under but still were appreciated. At the annual Taste of the Nation, proceeds ran $2,000 less than last year, but Wendy Zella of America's Second Harvest (formerly Divine Providence) said, "That's exceptional, considering the economy."
In any event, our affluent neighbors to the south made up the difference.
The bell ringer was the Naples Winter Wine Festival, in only its third year but already the second largest wine benefit in the world. In February, 435 guests managed to raise $5.1-million on a day darkened by the news of the Columbia disaster. The top wine bid was $210,000 for an 11-magnum vertical selection of Harlan Estate, a cult cabernet, contributed from the well-stocked cellar of a Naples collector.
The Florida WineFest at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota pulled in the next largest amount, $1-million, from a crowd of 6,000 at three days of tastings, dinners and a grand auction.
The best wine selection was poured by the winemakers of Napa Valley, who made their first visit in a few years for an Abilities of Florida tasting at Raymond James Stadium in January. The best food of the tasting benefit season was an imaginative sampling of New Wave Indian cooking from Bern's sous chefs at Bern's Winefest in April.
It's churlish for anyone lucky enough to be on the giving end to complain, but there are places where organizers can make improvements.
To keep the generosity and crowds flowing, traffic patterns could be improved at the biggest events, such as Abilities of Florida's massive tasting at Tropicana Filed in March. Navigating 800 wines and crowds of people is still difficult although organizers this year posted winery signs over many booths and assembled lists of the wineries on display.
At Bern's Winefest, the white tents in the parking lot were sometimes impassable.
If food menus and wine selection sometimes fall short, it may be that the same sponsors keep giving and are overtaxed. Chain restaurants chip in more (and should), but more independents, especially small ethnic spots, should join in where they can.
At this year's Taste of the Nation, where local chefs pitched in under the direction of guest chef Marc Vetri of Philadelphia, a minimalist menu that started with cold pea soup failed to thrill even though it was topped with lobster tartar.
But the crowd loved the big-screen video view of volunteer crews in the kitchen and staging area and spent thousands for private dinners with favorite Tampa chefs Jeannie Pierola of Bern's and SideBern's, Marty Blitz of Mise en Place and B.T. Nguyen of Cafe BT, Noodle Lounge and Yellow Door.
And the events succeeded at what they were designed to do: raise money for the hungry and the homeless.
At Taste of Pinellas last weekend, the area's biggest tasting got bigger still. Although it's still too hot and more rock-concert picnic than gourmet sampler, the event featured a more diverse menu than ever.
Skewered shrimp were more popular than barbecue and pizza, plus you could try sushi from Hook's, kibbah from Tajeen, hibiscus tea and tacos from Red Mesa, smoky collards from D&J Catering and even ice cream from Norway. Best deals on the grounds were melon with prosciutto from Fresco ($1.50); sliced steak from the Pub ($2.50) and a prime rib sandwich from Shephard's ($3.50). Lifesaver of the day: watermelon, fresh cut or liquefied from a half-dozen booths.
I would like to see more Asian restaurants involved and a good selection of wine as well as beer and hard lemonade, but most fans got all their ears and bellies wanted. Here's a closer look at some of this year's fundraising success:
-- Abilities: The charity drew 1,000 people and raised $100,000 at its Napa wine tasting at Raymond James and an additional $160,000 from the 3,600 wine fans who attended the annual tasting and auction at Tropicana Field.
-- Bern's Winefest: Gala dinners, tastings and auctions drew 900 people for the grand tasting and raised about $15,000 for the Bern Laxer scholarship fund.
-- Sea Grapes: The Florida Aquarium raised $35,000 from a sellout crowd of 800 for this year's tasting. It has scheduled another tasting with a showdown of sushi chefs on Aug. 7.
-- Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center: The Best of Tampa Bay tasting of 50 restaurants drew 1,500 people and netted the Center's foundation $75,000.
-- MOSI: The Einstein on Wine tasting drew 1,200 people and raised $56,000 for the museum. MOSI has an additional fundraiser, Einstein Dine, to be held at local restaurants July 10.
-- Taste of the Nation: This year's banquet at the Marriott Waterside in Tampa and auction drew a crowd of 400, raising about $103,000 for the Food Bank, formerly known as Divine Providence.
-- Taste of Pinellas: In three days, the Taste drew more than 60,000 people and took in $500,000, more than half of which went to the All Children's Hospital telethon on WFLA, which raised more than $4-million this year.
And the winner is . . .
One of the bay area's most unusual fundraisers, the annual one-on-one chef competition at La Maison Gourmet in Dunedin, reached the championship finals last month. Sixteen chefs started out, but in the last round Chris Ponte of Cafe Ponte in Clearwater faced Jon Eric Kern of St. Bart Island House in Tampa in a duel of racks of venison.
Kern was declared the winner, and $7,000 was raised over the course of the year for Ronald McDonald House.
Simmering studies
Something new is cookin' in downtown St. Petersburg and it's not another restaurant. Chef John Terczak has done that more than once (Le Bordeaux, Perch) since he moved down from Chicago years ago.
Instead he's opening a hands-on cooking school. He will install 16 gas stoves in a glassed-in teaching area, plus a wine room on the ground floor of a downtown office tower. Classes begin July 14.
Makes sense. Given the diminishing restaurant choices, smart diners may want to brush up on their at-home skills.
Terczak says his Tampa Bay Cooking Academy (700 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 804-8784 or (727) 898-2665) is aimed at home cooks and working cooks, particularly young line cooks and others just starting in the business. He has written the textbooks and devised a unique format for the curriculum.
There will be some single-session classes this summer for recreational cooks. The school itself consists of four 10-week quarters, with one 31/2 hour class each week on a single subject offered in the morning and the evening. The cost is $590 per quarter, plus books and supplies (students keep the food they cook).
The program is not affiliated with existing professional programs; graduates will get a certificate of completion, a chef's jacket and access to Terczak's video archive of recipes via the Internet.
-- Food critic Chris Sherman writes about dining and restaurant news in the Nibbler. He can be reached at 727 893-8585 or by e-mail at sherman@sptimes.com
