Savannah loves its tours, doesn’t it?
Well, next week we are getting another tour of everything wonderful to Eat and Like in our fair city. The 12th Annual Taste of Savannah is on deck with plenty for you to enjoy.
We certainly do a lot of tasting around here — there is Taste of Downtown, Taste of Southside, Taste of Pooler, Taste of Tybee. Taste, taste, taste!
Well, consider this to be the mother of all tastings. It is that big.
“Twenty of Savannah’s best restaurants and caterers all under one roof,” is how it’s described by Marti Barrow, executive director of the Tourism Leadership Council, the group that puts on Taste of Savannah every year.
TLC, as they are known, work year-round to promote what is great in this area, not just the historic district. They have members in all corners of our area all looking to get in front of tourists before they come to town. This time, as they have done for the past 11 years, they are putting some of our best dishes on display.
It’s pretty competitive.
“Chefs keep their menus a secret,” Marti tells me, “until the day of.” So there is definitely some gamesmanship involved.
There are prizes involved, too — mostly bragging rights for winners, but there will be judges in a back room eating all of the food that guests at Taste of Savannah will be sampling.
I was honored to serve as a judge last year and will do so again this year. Three or four of us sit in a back room beginning at 4 p.m. that day and are brought dishes every 10 minutes, perfectly choreographed. You do the math: 20 entrants with new dishes every 10 minutes? That’s six per hour. Yes, it takes three hours to try all of the food that will be offered. We have a glass of wine or two and laugh it up.
But before you get too incredibly jealous — it is hard work. Eating for three hours straight, whether you want to or not?
A lot of great dishes. Then there are always a couple that make you scratch your head and say, “What were they thinking? This could be so much better.”
Memo to the participants: Bring your A game. We want to see it — or taste it, as the case may be. I will say that last year’s winners were out-of-this-world good. They included Paul Kennedy Catering with marinated pork and salsa in lettuce wraps, and Leopold’s Ice Cream won best dessert with a burnt butter cake topped with their amazing butter-pecan ice cream (the recipe for which you can find right now at www.eatitandlikeit.com).
Tickets for the Nov. 8 event are only $50. You will not find a better deal anywhere. They are expecting more than 600 people at the Convention Center this year for what they are billing as a “Culinary Tour of Savannah’s Best.” For more info, check out tasteofsavannah.org.
See you there. And make sure you come hungry.
QUICK BITES
• About two months after they shut down for renovations, B. Matthew’s Eatery is now open. Haven’t stopped in yet, but I have seen pictures and their menus are online. Sounds like a perfect time for a visit. Let me know what you think if you get there before me. The 5 Spot in Habersham Village is coming online soon as well. I’ll keep you posted.
• Bonna Bella Yacht Club would like to invite everyone, in the scariest costumes, to their “First Annual Halloween Bash.” This great event is 3 to 10 p.m. Oct. 31. They’ll feature $10 buckets of steamed oysters from 3 to 6 p.m. with the Boomerang Band playing from 6 to 10 p.m. Wear your favorite costumes for the kids and adult costume contest. Happy Hour will run from 3 to 7 p.m. Sounds like a perfect warm-up act before trick-or-treating.
• Finally, from the “not afraid to scold myself department,” I got my hand slapped by the great folks at Back in the Day Bakery last week, who reminded me that they’ve been doing “artisan” bread for 10 years. Indeed they have, and they are wonderful! That said, here’s hoping you will still support Savannah Tech’s Holiday Bake Sale. They are trying to raise money for a $16,000 wood-burning oven.
Jesse Blanco is a local news anchor at WTGS and host of the Emmy-nominated “Eat It and Like It,” Savannah’s only TV show dedicated to its culinary scene. Visit him at www.eatitandlikeit.com or email jesse@eatitandlikeit.com.