A Look Back At A Successful 20th Annual Taste Of New Tampa!

The 20th annual “Taste of New TampaTM” was a huge success! I want to say special thanks to the Primrose School of Tampa Palms for hosting New Tampa’s signature event. Primrose owners Rick and Jana Radtke truly went out of their way to accommodate the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce. They not only let us use their beautiful Primrose Park, they also created a fabulous kids area, supplied volunteers, pre-sold tons of admission tickets, let us use their truck for set up and break down and so much more! The weather wasn’t perfect, but the event itself was awesome.

We also want to thank all of our sponsors again (see the logos on page 21), including Whole Foods Market in Northdale, which was left off last issue’s list, as were our media sponsors, the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News and the Tampa Bay Times.

We also thank Steven Hernandez of Tampa Bay Sound & Production, who did an awesome job of emceeing the event. The stage, bands and everything he provided were all perfect. Congratulation to the awesome, funky band Nervous Energy for winning the $500 cash prize in this year’s four-band Battle of the Bands.”

Please call Steve for all your production needs at (850) 361-5255.

We also appreciate the Mayor of Tampa, Bob Buckhorn, for his incredible remarks about our wonderful city and the new and improved roads in New Tampa.

The restaurants also did a super job. The food and desserts were delicious!

Thanks, Taste 2013 Restaurants:

Café Ole

Whole Foods

Takara Sake & Sushi Lounge

Domani Bistro Lounge

PDQ of Wesley Chapel

Full Circle Pizza & Grill

Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

CherryBerry Yogurt

Betty Cakes of Dade City

Frogury

World of Beer

Toast Fine Wines & Café

Tijuana Flats

PJ Dolan’s Irish Pub & Grille

Little Greek Restaurant

 

Thanks also to our outstanding panel of judges for this year’s “Best in Show” dining contest at the Taste: Chefs Peter Gambacorta and Pina Frieni of Private Chef of Tampa and Gary and Joyce Gunter- the Chamber’s great friends and Pina A. Frieni (see pic on page 21). And, the winners were:

 

Best In Show

Takara Sushi & Sake Lounge

 

Best Appetizer

First Place – Takara Sushi,

Torched Salmon Roll

Second Place – Domani Bistro Lounge,

Rolled Grapes

Third Place – Whole Foods Market,

Pineapple Mango

 

Best Entrée

First Place – Domani Bistro,

Duck Confit

Second Place – Café Olé, Paella

Third Place – PDQ,

Chicken Tenders

 

Best Dessert

First Place – Bruster’s Real Ice Cream,

Blueberry Cheesecake

Second Place – Betty Cakes,

Raspberry Cream Muffin

Third Place – CherryBerry Yogurt Bar,

Sea Salt Vanilla Caramel

Congratulations to all of the winners!

I also really want to really thank my team: Executive Assistant Jayne Baker; VP Neil Heird; Secretary John Lore; Treasurer Karen Hilton; and Board members Earl Meyer, Mark Lange and Rachel Haviland, as well as Gary Nager, the publisher & editor of the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, for his publicity of the 20th Annual “Taste of New Tampa” and his hard work and dedication to recruiting restaurants for this year’s event!

Mark Your Calendars!

I encourage all businesses to attend our monthly luncheons on the second Tuesday of each month, currently held at 11:30 a.m., at Hunter’s Green Country Club. We want to encourage a business- to-business discount for all members. Call me with your offer and I will provide emails and flyers to promote your offering. That is what a Chamber of Commerce is all about!

On line registrations for events are important to provide the best Chamber experiences! For more info and a complete list of upcoming New Tampa Chamber of Commerce events, visit NewTampaChamber.org.