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.
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.
