May 3, 2005 > $55,000 raised for Bay Area children

by Nancy O'Rourke

Kidango, a children's charity, announced their annual food and wine tasting benefit event- Taster's Showcase on Sunday, April 24 raised $55,000. Proceeds from this event will benefit Kidango's nutrition services that provide over 1.25 million meals to 3,300 children annually at their child development centers in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties.

Over 300 community members attended the event at the Hilton Newark/Fremont, to enjoy fine food and beverages and support the work of Kidango. The event featured local favorites such as Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar, Burrito Loco Taqueria, China Chili, Gelato Classico, Papillon, Pearl's Café, Roses: A Chinese Caféé, Spin-a-Yarn, Trader Joe's, Fremont Coffee Roasting Company, Seven-Up Bottling Company and Jack's Brewing Company. Newcomers to this year's event included The Chocolate Mess, Mirchi Caféé and Tia Juana.

Fifteen restaurants/food suppliers, four beverage sources, one brewery and seven wineries combined to serve up Kidango's tastiest food and wine extravaganza to date.

A panel of food professionals judged the participants food and beverage offerings.

The judges were:

Mary Chamberlin- food and catering consultant, chair of the American Institute for Food and Wine for Monterey County and a member of the James Beard Foundation; Gay Winterringer- instructor at Mission College and food products developer; Nolan Bourgeois- chef, caterer, food and menu consultant and certified SERVESAFE instructor; and Deborah Carpenter- caterer and former Culinary instructor at Ohlone College.

The following prizes were awarded:

Best Appetizer- foccacia bread and tart from Mirchi Café
Best Salad- Thai chicken salad from Trader Joe's
Best Special Food- spinach butternut squash ravioli from Papillon
Best House Made Dish- pulled BBQ pork sandwiches from Pearl's Café
Best Pasta- cannelloni from Spin-a-Yarn
Best Meat Entréé- soft tacos from Burrito Loco Taqueria
Best Seafood Entréé- honey pecan prawns from China Chili
Best Poultry Entréé- Chinese chicken salad from Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
Best Special Beverage- cherry 7UP from Seven Up Bottling Company
Best Dessert- the chocolate fountain from The Chocolate Mess
Best Presentation and Table Decoration- The Chocolate Mess

Wineries competed for awards voted by attendees. Those pouring wine were Chouinard Vineyards, Crystal Basin Cellars, Red Skye Wine, Retzlaff Vineyards, Thomas Coyne Winery and Westover Vineyards and White Crane Winery.

This year the results of the People's Choice Wine Awards were:

White Wine
Gold Ribbon- Westover Vineyards
Silver Ribbon- Chouinard Vineyards
Bronze Ribbon- Red Skye Wine

Red Wine
Gold Ribbon- Crystal Basin Cellars
Silver Ribbon- Red Skye Wine
Bronze Ribbon- Retzlaff Vineyards