We are just hours away from the Taste of Buffalo opening. Over 50 restaurants have been busy all week, preparing themselves for a two-day onslaught of voracious eaters.
What’s different about the Taste this year, from all the other years that you may or may not have attended? The Boy Scouts of America are celebrating their 100th anniversary by erecting a kid-friendly exhibit for this season only. Adventure Base 100 allows guests to enjoy a multi-sensory experience that will offer the sights, smells and sounds of Scouting via the campus IMAX-like video “Go! Dome.”
Zantac is teaming up with the Travel Channel for their “Beat the Heat” tour, and chose the Taste as the tour’s only New York State stop! Inside, the tour’s interactive exhibit, attendees will be able to virtually meet Adam Richman, star of Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food”, by standing in front of a green screen environment for a customized photo with the star, along with a plate of heartburn-inducing food.
Zhu Zhu Pets and the new Kung Zhu hamsters scurry across America! The Zhu-niverse Tour welcomes all fans to come live for a day like the Zhu’s. Run through the Zhu Zhu Pets life-size habitrail like Mr. Squiggles, or through the ninja and special forces training grounds like Drayko and Sgt. Serge to test the ultimate question: Which Zhu are you?
The 2010 Empire State
Games will continue its traveling torch tour exhibit to help build
excitement and enthusiasm for the Summer Games slated to be held in
Buffalo this year. The torch has made stops in each
participating region. The Torch Tour will make an appearance at the annual Taste of Buffalo. Visitors to the exhibit will receive a
complimentary photo with the official Empire State Games hand-held
torch.
As always, new restaurants have joined the fun. Guests will sample tastes from newbies like Buffalo Roadhouse Grill, Encore Restaurantt, Isabella’s Italian Deli, Mazzariello’s, The Melting Pot, Papaya, Saigon Café, Sakura Sushi and WJ Morrisseys.
Don’t forget that Buffalo Rising has been integral in booking the Culinary Theatre this year. It has moved over to the New Era Cap parking lot and features many eateries, including two chefs from the Seneca Casinos, The Steer, Buffalo’s first taco truck, Lloyd, and cupcake queen, Zilly Rosen.
Also on tap this year is the event’s first taste of an artisan foodmaker, as baker Kevin Gardner of Five Points Bakery prepares sourdough ciabatta by starting with the wheat. From there he will thresh, clean, mill, mix, ferment, form, and bake the bread. Lucky audience members will have the opportunity to enjoy samples from all of our demonstrators.
But maybe you aren’t happy with just a sample, maybe you’d prefer to weigh-in? Audience members will act as judges for four Nickel City Chef competitions scheduled throughout the weekend.
Watch Nickel City Chef JJ Richert of Torches face-off against former NCC winner, Challenging Chef Kate Elliott of Juniper in Battle: Slider and Battle: Gnocchi. On Sunday, you can catch Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz of Sample in a head-to-head challenge with Nickel City Chef Krista Van Wagner of Curly’s in Battle: Grilled Cheese and Battle: County Fair Desserts. In all instances, the chefs will prepare their best and tastiest version of the dish at hand, and the winner will be determined based on specific criteria including taste, presentation, preparation and creativity.
You can view a full, updated schedule for the demonstrations here.
Last, but not least, it is important to note that one of the biggest problems at the Taste last year was the bottleneck created by construction near The Statler. Not only was it a very unpleasant situation for attendees, but the businesses with stands located in that area were at a great disadvantage. This year, organizers have kept this area free and clear of food stands and all other vendors, making it a narrow but clutter-free people expressway, of sorts.
Come down to the Taste this weekend and enjoy one of Buffalo’s best and biggest summertime events. But please be responsible and keep animals and young children safe in these very hot temperatures. This is important all of the time, but particularly at events that are on asphalt with a limited supply of shade. Here are some standard advisories for pets and people (especially kids) to serve as a reminder.