Back To News/PR Index | | 33rd Annual Taste of Collier Food Festival Set for May 1 at Shoppes at Vanderbilt | Chef Demonstrations, Live Entertainment, Ice & Fruit Carvings to be featured | What began in 1983 as an end-of-season celebration has evolved into an opportunity for area restaurants to say “Thank You” to year-round residents for their continued patronage, while at the same time raising money for local charities. It is the longest-running event of its kind in the area with last year’s Taste attracting approximately 8,000 participants. Guests
are invited to sip and sample their way around The Shoppes at Vanderbilt,
which is hosting the event for the first time. Admission is $5 per person
and free for ages 6 and under. Admission tickets may be purchased prior
to the event online by visiting www.tasteofcollier.com, as well as at the
event. Food and beverage tickets may only be purchased at the event. In
addition to the $5 admission ticket, all food and beverage items must be
purchased with tickets (sold in sheets of 10) with $1 equal to one ticket.
Food items and beverages are priced between 1 and 8 tickets. All admission
and food tickets are non-refundable. ATM machines are located at the site,
which is located in north Naples at the northwest corner of Vanderbilt
Beach Road and Airport Pulling Road, with ample parking surrounding the
shopping center.
The highly anticipated afternoon of family fun will feature continuous entertainment from four musical groups, crowd-pleasing ice-carving demonstrations by Robert Saalfeld, Executive Chef of Naples Lakes Country Club, fruit carvings, a dance demonstration and savory samples from over 30 of Collier County’s restaurants, the perennial star of the event. For the second year, several of Naples most well known masters of the kitchen will be demonstrating various food preparation techniques at noon, 1 pm and 2 pm. The Chefs include Chef Art Meade, Jr. of Old Corkscrew Club, Boun Chanthavong from Shadow Wood Country Club, and Chef Billie Raper. Judges will be Richard Crisanti, Brian Lord, and Wilhelm Gahabka. Chas Tatigian of the Twin Eagles Club will serve as Emcee. A partial listing of restaurants includes: Agave Southwestern Grill, A Taste of Jersey Italian Deli, AZN – Azian Cuizine, Bambu Tropical Grill, Beach Box Café, Beefstro’s, Bill’s Steak & Seafood, Blue Monkey, Bonefish Grill, BrickTop’s, Brook’s Burgers, Coastal Peruvian Seafood & Grill, El Rincon de Mexico, Epiphany Gluten Free Bakery, Greek Gourmet, Johnsonville – The Butcher’s Son, Lima Restaurant and Pisco Bar, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Pincher’s Crab Shack, Quail Creek Country Club, Rita’s Italian Ice & Custard, Royal Scoop Ice Cream – Berkshire Place, Sale e Pepe, Seminole Casino, Texas Tony’s Rib House, ZiZi Naples Kitchen, 1500 South by Chef Art Smith, 21 and Spices by Chef Asif. Beverages will be provided by Coastal Beverage, Best Damm Root Beer, Bud Light Lime – Sampling Tour and Shock Top. The Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurant will offer samples of premium wines from their winery. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to sample wines. Check the event’s website for the growing list of restaurants and vendors. Event sponsors include: Naples Daily News, Seminole Casino Hotel, McQuaid & Company Real Estate Services, Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Beach Bug, Party Plus, Johnsonville, Cheney Brothers, Gulfshore Life, The Alamo, Florida Weekly, Fashion Fresh and DeVoe Buick GMC. Money raised by the event is donated to local nonprofits – over $1 million to date. This year’s beneficiaries will be Legal Aide, Heil Luthringer Foundation, supporting individual with multiple sclerosis, American Culinary Federation Caxambas Chapter of Naples & Marco Island and the McQuaid Cares Foundation. Krista Fogelsong from ABC-7 will emcee the event. For more information (www.TasteOfCollier.com), please contact Nicholas Jankowski at McQuaid Marketing & Promotions – Nicholas@mcquaidco.com or 239-331-7371. About
McQuaid & Company
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