Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232
The 2st Annual Taste of the Nation is coming up just around the corner on Monday, April 28th! You’ll be able to taste, sample, and drink you way through over 70 different restaurants and wineries showcased at the Oregon Convention Center. Tickets start at $75. 100% of the proceeds go towards fighting hunger so this is both a benevolent and a tasty cause!
Audrey’s Kitchen was lucky enough to be invited to attend the “Taste of the Taste”, a small showcase held at the Oregon Culinary Institute highlighting a couple of the venues that will be present next week.
It was an intimate event with just five local favorites on-site. We got to go around and meet all the chefs. I felt a little starstruck but they were all very kind.
On site were the following:
Left Coast Cellar (featuring really good wine)
The ever popular Simpatica:
Who featured two types of pate and various snacks. YUM.
Next we had Lovely Hula Hands. I made the mistake of asking if they served Hawaiian food. Oops! They actually have a pretty nice story for naming their restaurant the way they did. You should ask the owners some time.
They brought in a chilled sliced fritatta style appetizer.
Right next to them was Lauro Meditteranean Kitchen.
The proprietress was really friendly and knowledgeable and GENEROUS! Check out the feast they brought with them! Bacon wrapped dates:
Creamy beet salad:
Homemade Pita:
and accompanying dip.
After tasting the savory offerings, we made our way to Portland’s own claim to cupcake fame, Saint Cupcakes. I saw MSN’s article a few weeks back on the top Cupcakes around the country and our very own Saint Cupcakes came in with the #1 spot for their Fat Elvis creation! Good Job!
Featuring my favorite Toasted Coconut cupcakes and their fudgey Hot Fudge cupcakes.
All in all, it was a lovely event. The volunteers really put their hearts into hosting the Taste of the Nation each year, and this year is no different. I really encourage all foodies to head out there this coming Monday to check out the rest of the offerings! To learn out more, check this out:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UrvgEojgH8w
Thanks for inviting us to this event!
