With more than 100 tents to be erected, they’re already going up.
Foodies will descend by the thousands on Hudson on Sunday and Monday (Labor Day) as the Taste of Hudson celebrates its 10th year.
This festival, as local food events go, is a whopper. Over the two days, more than 20 mostly Hudson-area restaurants/establishments will grill, fry, saute and serve up their specialties, and more than 60 bands will play — all at the First & Main shopping center. The event raises money for local charities.
Food is the main attraction, and the festival offers a diverse group of vendors: fine dining spots, the Flip Side burger joint, pizza parlors, Mexican eateries, a North Indian restaurant (Jaipur Junction), Otani Japanese, a smoothie and coffee purveyor and more.
“It’s pretty crazy. It’s going to be massive,” said Rick Carson, chef and co-owner of Nosh Eatery & Creative Catering in Hudson, recalling the estimated 35,000 people who showed up last year over the two days.
“I’ve ordered 9,000 napkins,” Beth Sipos said almost breathlessly, explaining her preparation.
She is manager of side-by-side restaurants and longtime festival vendors One Red Door (a fine dining place) and Flip Side in First & Main, home of the festival. Sipos and her co-workers, like the other vendors, plan to serve the crowds as quickly as they can: “The goal is not to have that long line.”
She has a big tip for festival-goers who plan on eating: First purchase a pre-loaded Taste of Hudson dining card, available at several locations at the festival, which is used to buy the eats.
“You feel so badly when people wait in line,” she said, “and they don’t know they have to get a card” to buy.
Festival organizers like to characterize the food as “sample size” versions of restaurant menu items, or creative riffs on customer favorites. However, some of the items are pretty hefty, chefs say.
This year, Flip Side’s festival menu will include “Say Cheese” burgers (grass-fed Ohio beef), corn dogs (all-beef dog, homemade batter) and “California Dreamin’ ” turkey burgers with sprouts and avocado.
One Red Door will offer smoked beef brisket over mac and cheese, chicken cashew spring rolls with sesame dipping sauce, and other eats. One Red Door and Flip Side will again team up to offer a beer and wine garden on their patios. No dining card is needed for purchases in this area.
3 Palms Pizzeria, like One Red Door and Flip Side owned by Shawn and Tiffany Monday, will feature personal pizzas, fried artichokes and its popular homemade gelato. The restaurant specializes in wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, which features a thin crust and fresh toppings.
Another restaurant, longtime Hudson eatery North End, again will host the festival’s beer and wine garden behind the Hudson Library & Historical Society.
Over at Nosh, which is at 5929 Darrow Road (state Route 91) in Hudson, chef and co-owner Rick Carson has been busy planning one of the festival’s most ambitious and extensive menus, all while operating the eatery and catering business that specializes in local, seasonal foods.
Here’s just some of what he’ll serve: fritters made with zucchini from a local farm and served with a French vinegar and fresh dill cream; heirloom tomato sandwiches with a balsamic and tart cherry reduction sauce; Ohio peach cobbler; and “Firecracker Shrimp” — Gulf shrimp with fresh basil and spiced chilies in a wonton with orange marmalade. Yep, the chilies are homegrown, too. He’ll also serve Kobe beef hot dogs on warm pretzel buns with house-made kraut and a spicy caramel sauce; he notes there is nothing “sample size” about the hot dog.
Nosh is one of the festival’s newer participants. The eatery, which opened just three years ago, is an outgrowth of Carson’s catering enterprise. It has limited hours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Carson, who owns his business with fiancee Lindsay Neidhart, said the crowds don’t faze him; he’s been cooking a long time.
At 13 he was helping out the cook at a local VFW hall. He went on to a two-year culinary arts program at Stow High School, working after school at the Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls, and attended the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts.
“I’ll be ready,” he said.
The festival, which began as a project of the 2003-2004 class of Leadership Hudson, has no admission fee. This year, proceeds will benefit the Akron Children’s Hospital School Health Services. For a list of vendors, bands and other information, visit http://tasteofhudson.com.
Salsa contest
It’ll be a salsa smackdown at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 5 when the Downtown Akron Partnership sponsors its annual Salsa Making Contest at the farmers market at Lock 3 Park off Main Street in downtown Akron.
Turn in your salsa on Sept. 3 or 4 at the Downtown Akron Partnership office at Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., or by 11 a.m. at the market Sept. 5. Categories are “Mild & Mellow,” “Get Spicy,” “Fruity” and “Surprise Us.”
Prizes will be awarded. For information, call 330-374-7618 or email Linda Fry at lfry@downtownakron.com. Go to www.downtownakron.com for applications.
The farmers market at Lock 3 is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Friday through Sept. 12.
Design competition
Young artists are invited to design an Acme Fresh Market recyclable bag and win $500 for school art programs.
Students through grade 12 can use crayons, markers, paint or other materials to add to a black-and-white design on the “Please Make Me Beautiful” bags created by local artist and gallery owner Don Drumm.
The bags are available at all Acme Fresh Market locations. To enter, students submit photos of their completed bags to www.acmestores.com/DonDrumm. Winners will be selected by popular vote. The public can view a gallery of submissions and vote at the same website.
Acme, the family-owned grocery chain headquartered in Akron, will award two first-place $500 prizes, as well as second and third place prizes of $250 each to school art programs picked by winners. Winners will be chosen in two age groups — 6th grade or lower, and grades 7 through 12.
Melting Pot
The Melting Pot: A Taste of Many Nations will mark its 10th anniversary at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at St. George Fellowship Center, 3204 Ridgewood Road, Copley Township. Chefs from area food establishments will be making dishes from a variety of countries for guests to sample. The evening also includes a silent auction and raffles.
The event is the only fundraiser for Mature Services, a nonprofit group that provides programs and services for the elderly. Tickets start at $60. For reservations, visit www.matureservices.org/mp/meltingpot2014.php or call 330-253-4597, Ext. 199.
Ice cream tribute
Pierre’s Ice Cream Co. of Cleveland is giving a nod to Cleveland Metroparks with its new creation. The company’s new Emerald Necklace ice cream — bearing the nickname of the park system — features mint ice cream, chocolate cream cookies and fudge. Sales will benefit Cleveland Metroparks Trails Fund.
Festival circuit
• The Middle Eastern Food Fair at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Copley Township will run from 1 to 6 p.m. Sept. 7, rain or shine, at the church at 3204 Ridgewood Road in Copley Township. About 150 families belong to the parish, which organizes the food festival annually to benefit the church building fund.
In addition to lots of Middle Eastern eats, the fair will feature children’s activities — including a bounce house, face painting and a fish and duck pond game. Hot dogs, hamburgers and french fries also will be available. For more information, call the church at 330-666-7116.
• The long-running Greek Festival returns to Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron Sept. 11-13. The church is at 129 S. Union St. adjacent to the University of Akron. The festival features favorite Greek eats, Greek music and dancing and tours of the church. Admission and parking are free.
West Point wine
Twenty wines from the Southern Hemisphere will be featured at Friday’s wine tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. at West Point Market in Akron. Wines from Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and other locales will be served, along with appetizers. Cost is $35. Reservations: 330-864-2151, ext. 129, or at www.westpointmarket.com. West Point is at 1711 W. Market St.
Pizza class
Kathy Lehr, local bread expert and teacher, has added another Pizza Napoletana class with her wood-fired oven: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 6.
She will teach the same class using a home oven the evening of Sept. 30. Cost for each class is $55.
Lehr says that after attending classes in California with the Association of Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), she now is the only person in Ohio “officially trained” in authentic pizzas of Naples, Italy.
To register and for details, email Lehr at taoofdough@neo.rr.com.
Send local food news to Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KatieByardABJ.