Saturday Levi and I attended the Taste of Champaign-a food event with merch vendors, live music and this year-beer! Here are the photos from the progression of the event, for the article a few of us from SP (
Smile Politely) split up the food vendors to review. To read that article, please visit
HERE. For my article alone, please continue reading:
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| A sculpture in West Side Park |
While I
hesitate to begin another article discussing the rain, the fickle weather has
certainly decided to make its importance clear for yet another outdoor event,
the Taste of Champaign. Relying on
Twitter to update me on the progress of the 3 hour rain-delay, I was fortunate
not to have it interrupt my plans of attending on Saturday evening.
Upon arrival,
there was no shortage of families enjoying the day, as children danced through
the bubble machine with faces painted in tiger stripes and holding their
coveted balloon animals. My guest and I
made our way through the pop-up restaurant row that formed in the middle of
West Side Park. We were looking to get a
lay-of-the-land before embarking on our revelry of food, but I was surprised to
feel as though there were fewer food vendors than I remember-as it has been a
few years since I have attended the Taste.
What was
nice about going to this event, was the Champaign Park District posted a map on
their website complete with vendors, menus and prices-so I was easily able to
budget for the event and plan my dinner from appetizer to dessert-keeping my
total bill at $10 for the evening. I had
quickly decided against participating in the beer tent for two reasons: 1. the
inflated rates on Coors and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy ($3.75/12oz) and 2. the
restricted area in which the beer was offered.
While I understand why the restrictions were in place, I opted not to
drink and maintain my freedom to walk among the food.
Nevertheless,
I began my dinner experience with Shanghai 1938. I saw they were featuring steamed pork
dumplings and my guest and I couldn’t help but to try one. Shanghai utilized a kitchen trailer and upon
our order, the lady made her way into the kitchen to retrieve it. Our dumplings came out, hot, fresh, with the
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| Shanghai 1938's steamed pork dumpling |
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sweet and sour soy dipping sauce I can never get enough of. After cutting into my dumpling, I could see
the vibrant green of the scallion and the flavors of the savory pork made
Shanghai 1938 a wonderful beginning to my visit.
Manolo’s
Pizza and Empanadas was our next stop. I
was set on
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| BBQ Pork Empanada |
trying an empanada, while my guest was marveling that a slice of
pizza was only 1 ticket. Upon the
recommendation of the helpful girl at the counter-I decided to try the BBQ Pork
Empanada and my guest, the Italian Potato Pizza. I received my empanada right away while we
moved to the side of the tent waiting for a few moments as a young man warmed
the slice on a stone in a gas grill. My
empanada had a slight crackling crust that coated the chewier inner layer of
dough before exposing the sweet pulled pork on the inside. The pork was juicy and tender and pulled
apart easily as I moved through the empanada.
While I was very happy with my
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| Spotted Goat Pizza from Manolo's |
choice, my guest’s pizza stole the
moment-as his slice had a crispy, buttery crust that held up to the
well-balanced and flavorful toppings.
The red sauce and mozzarella made for a nice complement without
overtaking the presence of the potato.
We were so impressed we decided to order another slice, trying the Spotted
Goat pizza. The crust on this slice was
equally crispy and flavorful and the creamy goat cheese pleasantly chased the
flavors of the tomato and spinach.
Next door to
Manolo’s was Spoon House Korean Kitchen.
The simple setup contained very visually appealing signage and I was
immediately drawn to the beef bulgogi taco.
Bulgogi is traditionally Korean barbecued beef and a favorite of
mine. Bulgogi is not often spicy, but
very flavorful as the ginger and rice wine make the sauce dance. Our tacos were beautifully presented on homemade
flour tortillas with
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| Beef Bulgogi Taco |
lettuce, onion and a lime wedge. The vegetables were cold and crisp and the
beef tender, juicy and flavorful-a wonderful twist on Korean BBQ.
Moving on to
Mamma D’s Smokehouse I was excited to try the brisket sliders. My guest and I were received in a tepid
manner and our inquiry regarding the two types of BBQ sauces (a red and
yellow-named as such) was met with ambivalence.
We received our sliders on cold, store-bought buns and decided to try both
BBQ sauces and decide for ourselves which was better. The Red BBQ Sauce, was runny in consistency
and watery in flavor-so much so I could hardly taste it at all. The Yellow BBQ Sauce was thicker, but lacked
the Kansas City-style I expecting and maintained a muted flavor. What was even more surprising is what was
being passed off as brisket. My guest is
from the South and grew up in an area that prides itself on good BBQ-while
visiting, we stop at every BBQ stand we can find to enjoy brisket, pulled pork
and homemade BBQ sauce. This was not
like any brisket I have ever had-the absence of a rub was noticeable upon
glance and the lack of smoke upon flavor.
In fact, the meat resembled more a dry pot roast than brisket.
Our final
stop was Crepe De Licious, a franchise from Canada that has made it to our fair
town. The visual appeal of the setup was
professional and vibrant-the menu simple.
While I understand there is a strong Nutella following, I have yet to
jump onto the bandwagon that Crepe De Licious seemingly has taken the head of
with the dozens of Nutella containers adorning their counter. None-the-less I tried their ‘Black &
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| Red & Black Crepe |
Red’
a crepe with Nutella and strawberries.
The gentleman quickly poured the batter on the flattop, demonstrating
without words he has done this hundreds of times. The crepe was constructed in about a minute
and I elected for only a light touch of crème and cinnamon. The spongy and thin crepe was sweet and the warm
Nutella changed my mind on this chocolaty spread-a delicious ending to my
dinner experience.
Overall, the
Taste is called as such because it gives our community an opportunity to try
new places without much of a monetary commitment. Those looking to gorge on food for
little-to-no money may want to try another event more appropriately named ‘the
buffet’.
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| Runner getting ready for the Pie Run-they actually get pies thrown at them. And that's my sister, Boogie, pointing at the left-she found a friend doing the run. |
