Taste of the Nation — April 26th at Luxe Autohaus
April 8th, 2010
Don't know what these are exactly but they were served at last year's Taste of the Nation and they look great...
I’ve never been to Share Our Strength’s annual Taste of the Nation but if I’m not too exhausted from IACP and other events the weekend of April 23rd I’m going to finally check out this Monday, April 26th event — the 23rd annual Taste of the Nation. 100 percent of the proceeds benefit local hunger relief agencies. Doesn’t get much more feel good than that.
The gist is you buy a ticket for $75 and up and get to sample unlimited tasty food and drink from local chefs, brewers, mixologists, food entrepreneurs and more.
***Check back with my blog next week for a chance to win two free general admission tickets to this fantastic event!***
Here are some highlights straight from the event press materials:
50 Restaurants 25 Wineries 5 Breweries
ONE mission to End Childhood HungerOregon is a state known for its abundant production of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, and yet 1 in 6 kids in Oregon experience food insecurity and do not receive proper nutrition to grow and develop. Taste of the Nation works to end childhood hunger in the United States and abroad by ensuring that children and their families have reliable access to nutritious food, and by addressing the deeper causes of these conditions.
100% of the evening’s ticket and auction revenues will be given to hunger-relief efforts. Local beneficiaries
o Oregon Food Bank,
o Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force,
o St. Vincent de Paul Food Recovery Program,
o Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank.Since its inception in 1988, Taste of the Nation Portland has raised more than $1.1 million for hunger relief.
Taste of the Nation Portland is one of more than 55 food-and-wine fundraising events taking place across the U.S. and Canada, sponsored by Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger.
Sample of Participating Restaurants:
Andina
Bluehour
Clarklewis
Firehouse
La Calaca Comelona
Laurelhurst Market
Nuestra Cocina
Saint Cupcake
Screen Door
Simpatica
Steve’s Cheese
LUXE and VIP GEMS:
Beaker & Flask
Beast
Genoa
Gruner
ThistleBeverages:
Argyle
Elk Cove Vineyards
Foris Vineyards Winery
Willamette Valley Vineyard
Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards
Illahe Vineyard
Pamplin Family Winery
Cooper Mountain Vineyard
Chehalem Premium Wines
Adelsheim
Full Sail Brewing
Southern Oregon Brewing
Sierra Nevada
Captured by Porches
Crater Lake Soda
Cupcake Jones cupcakes from last year's Taste of the Nation...
100 percent of proceeds go to local and national hunger relief agencies.
Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation
Monday, April 26th 5-9pm
LUXE Autohaus
410 NE 17th Ave.
Portland, OR 97232
www.shareourstrength.org/portland
For tickets, call 1-877-26TASTE, buy them online at www.portlandtaste.org, or visit any New Seasons Market.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
The weeks events are going to be off the hook. The IACP conference looks amazing, as does Taste of the Nation. I wish I had the money to go to everything.
April 9th, 2010 at 7:02 am
I know! It’s nice that IACP has some good low dough options this time around. I’ll be at those ones for sure. I’m going to blog about them soon too. Check back next week b/c I’m going to be giving away some TOTN tickets…
April 27th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I attended last night’s Taste of the Nation at Luxe Autohaus thanks to Liz’s generosity. I was the winner in her ticket giveaway. I’ve been to the event many times and as always, I did not leave hungry or disappointed.
My favorite dishes, with the restaurant in parentheses, were the marinated chicken skewers with a delicious red sauce and the potato puree with lime juice, garlic and cilantro (Andina), bay scallops with a spicy green chile sauce on tortilla chips (Autentica), albacore carpaccio (Bamboo Sushi), thin slices of muscovy duck breast on brioche with watercress and apricot chutney (Davis Street Tavern), grilled asparagus with romescu sauce (Lauro) and wood-fired pizza from Tastebud Farms. My favorite desserts were the cannolis (Bugatti), banana toffee pie (Screen Door) and mini ice cream sandwiches (Ruby Jewel).
Many wineries, some well known, some not so well known, poured their juice, but I confined my drinking for the evening to pinot noir.
Compared to past events, there were fewer restaurants represented at this year’s Taste. In fact, I’ve noticed that the number seems to dwindle every year. In addition, while the packages available in the silent auction were very good, there were fewer than in previous years. A new feature was the restaurant wheel, where, for a $25 donation, attendees could spin the roulette wheel and be awarded an envelope with a gift certificate worth at least $25 to a top restaurant. I spun twice and brought home certificates to Fratelli and Nostrana. Guess I’ll be feasting on some Italian grub in the near future.
All in all, it was an excellent evening. Great food, great drink, and all for a great cause. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Taste of the Nation. Hope to see you there!
April 28th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Thanks Dave! First, I should say that it was Share Our Strength’s generosity. They provided the complimentary tickets and I had the pleasure of giving them away on my blog in order to spread the word about this year’s Taste of the Nation in Portland.
It was a grand event and I’ll be posting about it here shortly. Thanks for the report Dave. I’m sad we didn’t get to meet but I’m happy that you had such a great time.