Taste of Newark delights many palates

UD’s Royal Palm Steel Band fills the air with music.

4:36 p.m., Sept. 27, 2004--The weather was perfect, the food was fabulous, the wine flowed and the music was magic at the first annual Taste of Newark, held from noon-3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 26. Nearly 500 people ate, drank and made merry, filling the grounds on the lawn of UD’s Old College for the sold-out event.

The festivities, organized by Newark Mayor Vance Funk, the University of Delaware and its Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Program (HRIM) and the Downtown Newark Partnership, was so successful that a date is already set for next year, Oct. 2.

Proceeds from the $25 per-ticket affair will fund several Downtown Newark Partnership projects and scholarships for HRIM students.

“The idea came from Bethany Beach’s Food and Wine Festival. It was a chance for the city, the University and downtown restaurants to come together in a positive manner,” Funk said.

Fred DeMicco, ARAMARK Chair of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, said he was especially pleased at the turnout and the experience the event would bring to the 50 students who were an integral part of it. “I’m just delighted. The students are learning a lot working with the restaurants. I’d like to thank the mayor for his vision.”

Throughout the afternoon, Caribbean music by UD’s Royal Palm Steel Band filled the air as 24 local food establishments and distributors served small portions of exotic food and drinks—Matilda’s kangaroo chili, Home Grown’s cowboy steak and black and white chicken, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant’s pepper-seared Ahi tuna tataki and bean shoot salad with red pepper vinagrette dressing, the Blue & Gold Club’s bay scallop cerviche and caramelized onion crepes and Adria’s asparagus red pepper quiche, seafood and artichoke lasagna, among others. NKS Distributors brought Mike’s Hard Light Lemonade, a no-carb beer, Truman Pilsner and Pacifico Mexican beer, and several distributors served La Villa Pinot Grigio and merlot.

Then, there were the desserts, such as Vita Nova’s cascading fountain of chocolate in which you could dip either strawberries, pineapple, pound cake squares or marshmallows offered by HRIM students and Baker’s Dozen. Caffé Gelato was there with straccitella, bacio and vanilla bean with toasted almond gelato; Christina School District’s NETworks Career Training Program served eggnog truffle cups, Swiss cheesecake nibbles and triple chocolate turtle fudge; and Coldstone Creamery offered cookies and creamery ice cream cake.

“It’s fabulous, the food is delicious and beautifully displayed,” Sharon Marshall of Wilmington said. She and husband, Jim, said they were having a “great” time. “I’m loving it. I like the food and having the music is a nice touch,” he said.

Rosetta Rainey, sitting at a table filled with friends and relatives, also said she was having a great time. “I’m tasting all kinds of foods I would never have known about, and I love the music.”

The owner of Ben-Dom Printing, Carla Mancari of Newark, said she was impressed by the exposure the event was giving local merchants. “This is a wonderful opportunity for people to see what these restaurants have to offer. The food and everything are so good. No Atkins today!”

“What better way to bring people together than with food and festivities,” recent alumna Kyara Panula said.

Along with the food, drink and music came a silent auction and raffle for a basket of gift certificates from the 24 participating restaurants.

Just some of the HRIM student volunteers celebrate the day with Mayor Vance Funk.

Restaurant gift certificate hopefuls, Jenifer Evans and Jim Besten of Wilmington, said they were impressed with how well everything was done for a first time event. “We’re hoping to win the raffle. We’d love a gift certificate to every restaurant here,” Besten said.

On the auction table were a Blue Hen football helmet signed by coach K.C, Keeler and a Blue Hen basketball autographed by David Henderson; a volleyball autographed by members of the U.S. Olympics volleyball team; art from Hardcastle’s Gallery and You’ve been Framed; Kirk’s Flowers offering to deliver flowers monthly for a year; a magnum of wine, and two official Taste of Newark posters signed by participating chefs and created by Monnie Givens of UD’s Office of Public Relations.

Just before the winners of the raffle and silent auction were announced, Funk and UD President David Roselle thanked everyone for being there.

“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Funk said. “We’re very proud of our partnership with UD. The thing that is really rewarding is that we have restaurants that some of you have never been to before, and we hope you will visit them now.”

Roselle thanked everyone for coming and said, “It’s now up to all of us to patronize these merchants. Our goal is for this event to get so big that we have to move it to The Green.”

The winner of the 24-restaurant gift certificate package was Tracey Simmons of Elkton, Md. “We go out and come to Newark all the time. It’s incredible.”

The day was equally satisfying for the merchants who brought their cuisine to Old College lawn.

Michael Clark with Iron Hill Brewery said the day was a success. “It’s great exposure. It’s definitely worth a second year.”

Blue Crab Grill owner Dick Schmidt was equally enthusiastic. “We saw a lot of our regular customers, but we also met a lot of new people. It’s wonderful to promote the businesses in town.”

“We had a fantastic time. We’re so glad that Mayor Funk, President Roselle and the Downtown Newark Partnership put it together. It was a terrific turnout, and next year we’ll sell twice as many tickets,” Ryan German of Caffê Gelato said.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Duane Perry

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