weekend of food festivals
Kevin Lacassin permalink | categories: food, pinellas, tampa, things to doby Kevin Lacassin @ 3:33 pm
Whether you live in St. Pete or on the Tampa side of the bay, you’ve got an opportunity to make it a great food festival weekend. Beginning tomorrow evening at Vinoy Park in downtown St. Pete is the Taste of Pinellas. I saw the ads last year listing the participating restaurants and decided that I wasn’t interested in tasting Pinellas in any way, shape or form. However, I was pleasantly surprised this year at the number of independent, quality restaurants offering food for this three day, outdoor family festival. The festival is free and beside the food, features several great bands, including Peter Frampton, .38 special and the Neville Brothers.
Some of the restaurants include Red Mesa, Boulevard Bistro and Parkshore Grill. According to a quote in the St. Pete Times today,
“It was dominated by the chains before,” says Steve Westphal of Parkshore Grill. “This year we made a drive to (involve) the more local restaurants.”
I say hurray for the effort and the spread, I hope it is a sign of times to come. I would have liked to see more progressive and upscale restaurants on the list, especially since Pinellas houses some of the area’s best, including Café Ponte and Salt Rock Grill. But I’m convinced the festival is moving in the right direction.
If you need to satisfy your craving for Louisiana boiled crawfish, you can get your fix Saturday at a boil organized by Nola Café in South Tampa. They’ll have over 3,000 pounds of boiled crawfish and a reasonably priced bar at Hooper’s Hollow at The A La Carte Pavillion (near Rocky Point). There will also be live music and a portion of the profits will be donated to the United Way of New Orleans. It’s the 1st annual, so I am hoping for great weather and a great turnout. Check out the flyer and if possible, email NolaCafe301@aol.com with the estimated head count.
Happy eating this weekend!
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