The First Annual Flavors of Fort Lauderdale (Photos)
Categories: First Impressions
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| Photo Courtesy Flavors of Fort Lauderdale |
| Ambassador of Flavor and Sustainable Seafood Advocate Chef Allen Susser |
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Flavors of Fort Lauderdale's main goal was to highlight the lifestyle and culinary industry of Fort Lauderdale. While there were multiple events, Saturday night's Flavors After Dark and Sunday's Grand Tasting were the most highly attended and most festival-like events. Both were held at Las Olas Marina.
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| Sara Ventiera |
| Guests Enjoying the Off the Hookah Lounge |
Saturday's Flavors After Dark featured the Five Fabulous Female Chefs. Organized by Susser, the demonstration was meant to celebrate local women in the culinary industry. Due to what Susser sees as a need for more women chefs, he wanted to give local women chefs the platform to stand out. Participating chefs included Elizabeth Barlow of Dos Caminos, Lauren DeShields of Market 17, Robyn Almodovar of Palate Party, Jennifer Erickson of Roccos Tacos, and Shar Melwani of Cookies by Shar.
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| Sara Ventiera |
| Chef Allen Susser and Chef Robyn Almodovar of Palate Party, One of the Five Fabulous Female Chefs |
Sunday's Grand Tasting featured a line up of well-known local chefs handpicked by Susser. In keeping with the sustainable seafood element of the event, each chef prepared a sustainable seafood dish. Johnny V's Johnny Vinczencz, SEA's Tony Sindaco, Cafe Maxx's Oliver Saucy, Sole on the Ocean's Ralph Pagano, and 3030 Ocean's Dean Max presented dishes for the event.
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| Sara Ventiera |
| Chef Ralph Pagano |
The Grand Tasting was the most heavily attended of all the events. With nearly 50 vendors, it was actually difficult to sample everything at the event. There were plenty of seafood and meaty options to taste from tons of local restaurants.
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| Sara Ventiera |
| One of the Many Non-seafood Options at the Grand Tasting |
More importantly, to match the likes of any good culinary event, there were multiple samplings of beverages. There were plenty of options ranging from beer, wine, and flavored champagnes to high-end bourbon, tequila, and specialty cocktails.
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| Sara Ventiera |
| The Very Busy Cachaca Stand |
As with any new event, Flavors of Fort Lauderdale does have some room to improve--organizers would do well to bring in a more varied selection of vendors for Flavors After Dark. But we're betting that with the success of this years event--especially the Grand Tasting--more restaurants will want to jump onboard next year. Overall, it was a well organized, well attended, and successful event. We are looking forward to checking out future Flavors of Fort Lauderdale events.
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