Event Report: Eats! Club™ at Taste of Florence

With an event of the size and scope of Taste of Florence, it’s difficult to explain in a narrative all of the things we enjoyed and observed during the course of the evening. It would take an essay and not a blog post to do it. Instead, we thought that for sake of brevity and to make our recap a bit more fun that we’d do a Top 6 list.  These are the Top 6 things that we appreciated about the Taste of Florence.

#1 — Meeting You! This was our first large-scale public event since starting PeeDeeFoodie.com™ back in January of 2010. We finally let the cat out of the bag about our identities and we couldn’t have chosen a better venue.  We offer a sincere “Thank You” to all of our friends, readers, and listeners who visited Booth #5 or stopped us as we toured the ballroom. You made Taste of Florence forever memorable to us and a milestone in our journey to cover and promote the food, foodies, and food culture of the Pee Dee Region. Oh, and a special thanks to Eats! Club™ members! We’ll see you soon.

#2 — The Food. Duh. From the entrees to the entrees, the food selection, creativity, and presentation were phenomenal. For such a big event, where seemingly thousands were served, every restaurant truly stepped-up to the plate and brought it’s A-game.  Some personal entree favorites were the wings by Apple Annie’s, the Champagne Chicken by Bizzell’s, the Chipotle Meatloaf Cupcakes by Foodscapes, the Shrimp, Mussels, Duck Confit and Grits by Victor’s Bistro, the Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork by Locals Grill, and the Duck Cassoulet by Mayflower Seafood Restaurant.  The Marinated Ribeye by Percy and Willie’s was also outstanding. Some personal dessert favorites included the Pumpkin Spice Cake by Let Them Eat Cake, the Strawberry Grits by New York Butcher Shoppe, the Peach Cobbler by Fatz, and the Cheesecake on a Stick by Southern Hops. SWEET cupcakes are always fabulous, so I have to add them to that list as well.

All that said, ultimately the three announced judges and I, as the secret judge, combined our scores. The official Taste of Florence awards went out as follows:

Best Booth Award
First – SWEET
Second – Redbone Alley
Third – Let Them Eat Cake

Best Entree Award
First – Bizzell’s (Champagne Chicken)
Second – Redbone Alley (Frogmore Dogs)
Third – Shug’s Smokehouse (BBQ Sliders)

Best Dessert Award
First – Bizzell’s (Chocolate Cobbler)
Second – Percy & Willie’s (Cheesecake)
Third – Southern Hops (Cheesecake Pops)

#3 — The Turnout. While some may have questioned the choice of a Tuesday for the event and whether Pee Dee residents would venture out for a foodie event in this economy, they were proven wrong by the numbers.  The turnout actually reached ballroom capacity and the organizers have already made plans for use of the Florence Civic Center arena space for 2012.  Garin Dickerson and I, when making rounds for my “secret judge” role, noted that some booths were stacked five deep with attendees in line. Some booths, like Victor’s Bistro, sold out well before 8:00pm.  I can only add, “Wow.”

#4 — The Planning Committee, Volunteers & Civic Center Staff. From the first conversation that I had with Jennifer Hoover, co-chair of the event, I knew that we were going to be part of something special. The Planning Committee did a first-rate job of pulling together such a large and complex project from scratch. Everything was well-organized from the promotional aspects to the floor layout. When we yesterday afternoon we found that the Volunteers and Civic Center Staff setting-up the venue were equally enthusiastic and busy. We felt welcome from the get-go and not a need of ours went unmet.

#5 — The Entertainment. From Clay Brown and his signature Beach Music to the TKA student vocal groups and the Florence Jazz Messengers Jazz Combo, the entertainment was top rate and a whole lot of fun. It served as a wonderful backdrop to the festivities and kept the mood upbeat and light, even when the aisles got crowded.

#6 — Lots and Lots of Memories! Please take a look at our photo galleries and add your comments. Do you recognize anyone?  What were your favorite dishes or booth displays? We want to hear from you!

• VIEW Photo Gallery One
• VIEW Photo Gallery Two
• VIEW Photo Gallery Three

Please Add Your Comments Here

Note: Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Phillip Guyton, Jr. of True Light Photography.  See more of his work at http://TrueLightPhoto.com

Tags: Chefs, Florence Civic Center, Foodie Event, Judging Tour, PeeDeeFoodie.com, South Carolina, Taste of Florence

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