April 17, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce hosted the 28th annual Taste of Winter Park presented by CenturyLink, the organization’s annual food festival. Forty-five of the area’s finest restaurants served over 1,300 attendees with unlimited samples of unique culinary creations, steakhouse favorites, quality seafood, decadent desserts and a variety of coffees, teas, wine and beer.
“The Taste of Winter Park continues to be one of Central Florida’s best foodie events,” said Patrick Chapin, President/CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. “We’re proud to showcase the many fine dining opportunities in Winter Park and bring the community together for an unforgettable evening.”
Throughout the event, a select panel of judges from local media outlets sampled each menu item to determine the recipient of six coveted awards. Judges included Heather McPherson, food editor, Orlando Sentinel; Pam Brandon and Katie Farmand, editors, Edible Orlando; Rona Gindin, dining editor, Orlando Life; Josh Garrick, columnist, Winter Park-Maitland Observer; Ricky Ly, food blogger, TastyChomps.com; Scott Richardson, food writer, The Park Press; and Mark Baratelli, owner/founder, TheDailyCity.com.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar was honored with Best Entrée for its filet and crab cake served with béarnaise sauce. Best Side Dish was presented to Mitchell’s Fish Market for its shrimp and scallop ceviche. 4 Rivers Smokehouse’s sweet shop earned the restaurant the Best Dessert nod for its bourbon ice cream.
The Best Booth Display went to Barnie’s Coffee Kitchen. The Best Healthy Dish was presented to East End Market, whose vendor Txokos created a fresh seafood salad. Finally, a new award this year recognized the restaurant that best used a local ingredient. Named the Best Fresh Florida Dish, Cask & Larder’s smoked Canaveral cobia was served with a wheatberry salad, pickled green beans, tomatoes and a horseradish crème fraîche.
The Taste of Winter Park is held annually at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market. For information on the 29th annual Taste of Winter Park, contact the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce at (407) 644-8281, visit www.winterpark.org or follow the event at www.facebook.com/tasteofwinterpark or @WinterParkTaste on Twitter.