While Akron City Council continues to debate in committee whether to legalize food trucks, other towns are taking full advantage of the gourmet street cuisine.
Mark your calendars for Aug. 28 and Sept. 1, when Medina and Fairlawn host food truck round-ups.
The Aug. 28 event is from 4 to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of Sushi on the Roll, 985 Boardman Alley, Medina. In addition to Sushi on the Roll’s truck, the Orange Trük, Rolling Pig BBQ, Wholly Frijoles Mexican Street Foods, Zydeco Bistro, Chef Grey Wolf, Krav, Pig Lickin’ Good BBQ and the Stone Pelican Rolling Cafe will be taking part.
Trucks will be donating all of their tips to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Building Blocks Adoption Agency.
The Sept. 1 event in Fairlawn goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Bicentennial Park, 3486 S. Smith Road. This one is expected to be huge, with live bands and more than 15 trucks, including some Cleveland-area favorites.
Trucks taking part include the Orange Trük, Zydeco Bistro, Wholly Frijoles, Pig Lickin’ Good BBQ, Mobile Sushi Bar by Sushi on the Roll, Umami Moto, Sweet Mobile Cupcake, Stone Pelican, Jibaro, Fired Up Tacos, Hodge Podge Truck, Krav, East Coast Custards, The Popsmith, Rolling Pig, StrEat Mobile Bistro, Swensons, Denostas Wood Fired Grille and Get Stuffed Solar Powered Mobile Eatery.
A portion of the food proceeds will go to the Fairlawn Community Foundation, which puts on the city’s fireworks display for July 4.
Comings and goings
• Kim Hannon and John Smith have announced that they will be closing their Great Harvest Bread store, 3900 Medina Road, Copley Township, at the end of business Aug. 30.
The couple opened the store in June 2006, and said in March that they were looking for someone to buy the business. No one has come forward and the couple has decided to close.
Until the end of the month, the store will keep its regular hours and will continue to take and fill orders. Phone 330-666-7497.
• Nick Anthe’s Restaurant, 1008 N. Main St., Akron, has been sold to former gun shop owner Tom Procaccio of Cuyahoga Falls. No word yet on whether Procaccio plans to reopen as a restaurant.
• The new East of Chicago Pizza Shop, 1650 W. Market St., Suite 20, in the Wallhaven Building, is holding its grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting Tuesday at 10 a.m.
East of Chicago has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve and will donate 20 percent of the day’s sales to the organization. The store will also hold a canned-food drive to benefit the Haven of Rest.
Shop hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Phone 234-208-9230.
• Imperial Wok has moved to its new location at the former KFC, 1883 W. Market St. in the Wallhaven area of Akron.
Cooking demonstration
Chef Tamara Mitchell, owner of the Dine-In Diva Personal Chef service, is leading a cooking seminar and demonstration titled Recipes from the Garden at 6 p.m. Thursday at Graf Growers, 1015 White Pond Dr., Copley Township.
Phone 330-836-2727 to reserve a spot; walk-ins are welcome. For more information, visit www.graf growers.com.
Learn to preserve at Hale
Crown Point Ecology Center and Hale Farm & Village have teamed up to host food preservation workshops on Saturday and Sept. 21 at Hale Farm & Village, 2686 Oak Hill, Bath Township. Each is from 10 a.m. to noon.
The workshops, held in the Hale Farm kitchen, will focus on hot water bath canning and other common food preservation methods. Each is limited to 12 participants. Cost is $20 for members of either Crown Point Ecology Center or the Western Reserve Historical Society, $30 for nonmembers.
To register, contact halereservations@wrhs.org or call 330-666-3711. Specify the workshop date when registering.
One Three wine debuts
Karla Walters, owner of 750 ml Wines, 2287 W. Market St., Akron, is introducing her own label, One Three Wines.
The line will debut with One Three’s sauvignon blanc, produced by Napa, Calif., winemaker Jay Buoncristiani, who once served as winemaker for Hess Collection.
Buoncristiani describes the wine this way: “This 2012 vintage is full of the complex aromas of ruby grapefruit, guava, lime zest, vanilla scone, white pepper, pineapple, jasmine and lemon grass. … On the palate, a creamy texture leads the way to layered flavors of juicy pineapple, Meyer lemon, green melon, muscat, key lime pie, and vanilla wafer, finishing with ultra bright acidity.”
Walters hand-painted the label design on the bottle. It will be sold for $29 at 750 ml.
Wine, women and whey
Countryside Chix of the Countryside Conservancy are sponsoring an event on Aug. 28 that has “girls’ night” written all over it.
Wine, Women and Whey will take place at the Winery at Wolf Creek, 2637 Cleveland-Massillon Road, Norton at 6:30 p.m. This women-only event will focus on wine and cheese pairings, and will feature Wolf Creek winemaker Carrie Bonvallet and cheesemaker Abbe Turner of Kent’s Lucky Penny Creamery.
The evening includes a vineyard stroll, a wine cellar tour, talks on wine and cheese and how to pair them, wines from Wolf Creek and Troutman Vineyards, and cheeses from Lucky Penny, Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram Township and Yellow House Cheese in Seville.
The event is $30. Proceeds benefit Countryside Conservancy, a nonprofit agency connecting people, food and land.
To register contact Katie Myers-Griffith at 330-657-2542, ext. 222, or email kmyers@cvcountryside.org.
This event is one in a series of ladies’ night out events called A Celebration of Women in Agriculture, to encourage women to connect around local food and agriculture in Northeast Ohio.
Scotch tasting event
Ken Stewart’s Grille, 1970 W. Market St., Akron, is having a five-course scotch tasting on Aug. 29, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The tasting will feature Glenmorangie single malt scotch, including private editions, with food pairings.
The tasting event is $60, plus tax and tip. Seating is limited; phone 330-867-2555 to reserve.
Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.