Friday, March 4, 2011

The Merry Month Of March. The Ospreys Return And Rosie Looks Forward to The Outer Banks Taste Of The Beach.

Every year, I look forward to the month of March. The ospreys return the first week of March and that means winter on the Outer Banks has broken. February- the coldest, windiest, grayest, most dismal month - is over and done with. Spring seems attainable. Another reason I look forward to March is a little annual event down here on the Outer Banks - The Outer Banks Taste of the Beach. Hosted by the Outer Banks Restaurant Association, the Taste of the Beach is a four-day event, held this year March 17 - 20. It's chock full of culinary events - a veritable food festival - featuring special menu presentations, cooking classes, wine tastings, brewery tours, tapas crawls, and many more culinary delights. The Outer Banks Taste of the Beach was picked as one of the Top Ten Seafood and Wine Festivals by Coastal Living Magazine. See article here. Actually, that Kapalua Wine and Food Festival in Maui in June is looking pretty darn good to me. Mr. Hawthorne, are you up for this? Here's an informative video and more information about Taste of the Beach and here's a calender of events. The Grand Finale Event is the OBX Grand Tasting. Over 20 area restaurants will be turning out some amazing creations and will be competing for the 2nd Annual TOBY Awards, Best Booth Presentation, Best in Show, Best Outer Banks Cuisine, and the two top awards - the Chef's Award and People's Choice. In past years, Mr. Hawthorne and I have always enjoyed the four-course meal with wine pairings at Kelly's Restaurant featuring A Taste of Northeast North Carolina. Our favorite event has been "It's All About Oysters" at Lucky 12 Tavern. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my posts from last year at the Lucky 12. Sadly, for the Hawthornes, this event was one of the first to sell out and we weren't able to get tickets. One would think that the Rosie Hawthorne, noted Outer Banks Food Blogger would be able to get in ... but NOOOOOOOOOO. Gee. It must have been my glorifying posts from the last two years that ended up getting this event SOLD OUT. Oh well. I have Mark's recipes already. I'll just have to make them at home. No problem. The third event the Hawthornes go to is the Taste Of The Beach EXPO. now known as the OBX Grand Tasting.
Here's my post from last year's Taste of the Beach EXPO -
Part 1
and
Part 2.
And here's a rather interesting comment made by Obxsunshn in my post about last year's EXPO:
Obxsunshn said...

Rosie... I gotta say... I love reading your blog! I apologize for the "wine issue", I can assure you that won't happen again. Would you consider being a judge at the OBX Grand Tasting in 2011? Yes, that is the NEW name for the EXPO. I'm happy to hear that your overall experience was a good one!

Oh well, at least the ospreys won't forget about me this year. Sniff. Sniff.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aloha Rosie! We'd love for you to blog about our festival, I'll email you the details. Would an oceanfront suite at the Ritz Carlton overlooking D.T. Flemming Beach be acceptable?
Mahalo for posting our link, and see you soon.
P.S. Please be sure to bring an assistant,since we all know how difficult it can be to eat, drink, and write and take pictures at the same time. We had a lovely guest stay with us a few years ago that would be perfect for the job, will email you her contact info.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Good one, Xmaskatie!

Amy said...

We are looking forward to this event. It will be our first time. We already have tickets to the Grand Tasting and plan on attending a few other events. I love it when the Ospreys come back to our little corner of the Chesapeake Bay. It truly means spring is right around the corner!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Hi Amy.
What all events are you going to besides the Grand Tasting? Please stop by and say hello at the GT. I love meeting my readers.

Amy said...

We are going to Toast to the Coast at Sanctuary Vineyards and the Fish Fry on Sunday and may one other. I'll be sure to look for you at Pamlico Jacks and say Hi!

SweetPhyl said...

Rosie, why the heck aren' you JUDGING at the Expo--you'd be excellent!? Let me know if you're interested. By the way, the Expo is already sold out for this year, but there are still tons of great events that are still open. See ya at the Expo (I'll be the one running around like a chiken with my head cut off.) Oh, and I'd be happy to tote your stuff around Hawaii if Xmaskatie isn't available.

SweetPhyl said...

My bad--Expo is THE GRAND TASTING. Oy vey. I need a vacation