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Taste of Boca Grande scores another hit

BY MARCY SHORTUSE – Maybe it’s the chocolate crepes. It was quite possibly the crab cakes. No, perhaps it was the sushi. And the fact it wasn’t raining. Whatever it was, the eighth annual Taste of Boca Grande brought hundreds together from on- and off-island to sample some of the finest food and wine in the area, and to enjoy each other’s company.

According to Thor Johnson, an island resident who has helped coordinate the event since its inception, this year’s Taste raised somewhere in the ballpark of $32,000.

“Over the period of the years the Taste has raised about $100,000, if you include this year,” he said. “We’re still getting all the ticket sale money and other money gathered together for this year. We had fewer people than last year, but with the economy and the weather, we’re bubbling over.”

Johnson said that 520 tickets were sold for the event held to benefit the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, and with the popularity it has gained over the years it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that all 520 ticket-holders attended.

“It’s my favorite event of the season, and this is my fourth one,” said Diana Donlon, a Gulf Cove resident who does business on the island. “The wine, the food, the people … it’s just the best. Like a big reunion.”

Blanche and Thor Johnson, who help to coordinate the event every year, were extremely relieved the weather held out.

“It’s like we’ve been blessed,” Blanche said. “We were so worried, and now it’s beautiful.”

Rainy weather prevailed throughout the day, but just an hour or so before 6 p.m., when the event was scheduled to start, it stopped. It even seemed to warm up a little.

If you included the beverage stands, there were 20 booths set up on the grounds of the Boca Bay Pass Club. Comfort foods, such as homemade macaroni and cheese from the Grapevine, were more familiar while other concoctions, such as Caribbean oxtail stew made by Farlow’s on the Water, were given a slightly more suspicious eye but still enthusiastically ingested.

Taste of Boca Grande, though, is about trying new things and many did. Once something exceptional was found at one of the 18 food booths, word spread like wildfire.

“You’re the brussels sprouts everyone is talking about!” one foodee exclaimed when they found The Temptation’s tent. “And it’s not often that people talk about brussels sprouts.”

Chef Myriam Glover of the Coral Creek Club made a big impact on the evening with her flaming chocolate crepes, too. The line at her station didn’t let up until the evening was almost over.

The Steve Chapin Band took the stage again, and the performance was dedicated to the memory of James Forbes Chapin, who passed away just before he was to turn 90 on July 4, 2009. The legendary jazz drummer performed many times at Taste of Boca Grande.

“It’s a good cause, good food and good people having a good time,” said Big John Wallace. “We wish we could do it more often.”

Restaurants that participated included the Palmetto Grill, the Boca Grande Club, The Grapevine, PJ’s Seagrille, 3rd Street Café, Prime Time, Habaneros Southwest BBQ, South Beach, the Temptation, Boca Bay Pass Club, Eagle Grill and Miller’s Dockside, Coral Creek Club, Farlow’s on the Water, Boca Grande Baking Company, Trattoria 13, Patrick’s Thai Bistro and Sushi Bar, Gasparilla Inn & Club and the Loose Caboose.

Beverages were provided by Bn’T Liquors and Terry Seitz Inc.

“The food was great, those restaurants are going bananas,” Johnson said. “It’s getting better every year.”