Taste Of Tremont 2012

Taste of Tremont was this past Sunday and it's one of the events I look forward to (and will clear my schedule for) all summer long.

Every year for the past 10 years, Tremont closes down Professsor from Starkweather to Fairfield and has a culinary feast. Each local restaurant pops a tent in the hopes of enticing you to try their noms. Year after year the event becomes more popular and the last two years have had the biggest turn out yet. That being said, there were so many vendors that the longest I waited in line was still under 15 minutes. The food is delicious but the people watching is what I go for. Young and old, shopkeepers and chefs. You will run into almost everyone you know.

 Clockwise from top: The husband tried to convince me we needed a chicken coop from Hive and Coop; Lucky's and Fahrenheit's offerings; Toasting w/ Greg from Wine & Design. You must start your trek at W&D. They will fortify you with bubbles and a dance party before setting out on your journey.

You can't go wrong with Sunny's Beef Parang and a spring roll from Ty Fun.

 I'm actually craving this right now it was so good.

Dante fills their side lot with bands, food and festivities and we usually stop here twice.

 Last year they had a mechanical bull. This year was a carnival theme.

At Dante we saw the super cute Raffaele & Margaret from Tuscany Distributors; ate incredible ribs paired with a Goose Island IPA for him and a Watershed Distillery vodka lemonade for me; Quintin, my second favorite person at Dante (next to Chef, of course!).

Then this happened:

Who am I to resist when a shirtless man asks how strong I am? That hammer was so heavy

I didn't think I could even swing it over my head. I didn't ring the bell, but I did get it half way up!

I always like to take a time out, cool off and then head back out for Round 2. So it's good to have a friend that lives close by to chill out and relax; The Banyan Tree is also a lovely spot to escape the heat but I may be the only adult who prefers the children's side of the store. I may need this giant green pillow; The biggest hot dog I've ever seen. It was over a foot long.

The scene at Treehouse; the always lovely Oliver & Jaclyn; Prosperity Social Club; fashions at Pinky's Daily Planner.

Last but not least we stopped to hi to all the great peeps at Fresh Fork; here's Trevor carving up his pig; the newest spot to hit Tremont, Barrio, was spot on with their cilantro lime chicken and chorizo tacos.

Did you make it to the Taste this year? What did you love?