To take a little of the “snob factor” out of this Michigan resort town’s that eyes to be a culinary hotspot, the "Taste of Traverse City" Festival has been slated on September 13 to 15. The three-day festival will include workshops, demonstrations, appearances by local chefs and culinary celebrities, and tastes and sips of the dishes and libations from area restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries and other food producers.
Highlights of the weekend will include a "Grub Crawl,” a day-long showcase event on the city waterfront, a Sunday Brunch competition, and a Foodie Film Festival of food-themed movies.
Long known for its beauty and recreational bounty, Traverse City has also been attracting attention as one of America’s most unique culinary destinations and was named one of the country’s Top Five Foodie Towns by Bon Appetit.
The new event is not entirely without precedent, since Traverse City’s reputation as a food destination began to spread during the heyday of an earlier culinary festival, the Traverse Epicurean Classic. The Epicurean Classic, which folded in 2012, involved various big-ticket events, celebrity chefs and book signings, while the Taste of Traverse City will be much more intensely focused on local cuisine.
The festival will open Friday evening with a Downtown Grub Crawl where attendees receive “tasting punches” that can be used for special food and beverage samples at downtown restaurants and bars. The festival’s signature event will be held Saturday afternoon on the city’s waterfront Open Space Park, featuring multiple pavilions and stages dedicated to a diverse selection of culinary fields (plus a “grilling and chilling zone” with live music and local chefs grilling treats.)
Sunday’s offering is a “Best of the Brunch” culinary throwdown – a competition in which teams of chefs, farm suppliers and beverage creators vie to create and serve the “perfect brunch” to a small crowd of advance-ticket participants at the city’s waterfront Hagerty Center. And on all three days, the Foodie Film Festival will be showing such culinary movies as “Mostly Martha,” “Big Night,” “Ramen Girl” and “Ratatouille” in venues around the dining area.
For more information, visit http://www.tasteoftraversecity.com.
