TASTE OF PORT CHESTER 2011 ****

This is a special interest column covering the Taste Of Port Chester event that took place on June 5th 2011.This event was organized on behalf of the Tamarack Tower Foundation featuring food samples from approximately 30 restaurants in Port Chester N.Y. The money paid to attend this event is used by the foundation to support continued excellence of the Port Chester public schools.You can tour the participating restaurants by foot or by bus.The restaurants involved have balloons hanging outside the entrance.The restaurants benefit from the promotion by attracting new patrons who are interested in finding new dining destinations and will also be selling beverages which are not included. I was told that approx. 700 people attended this event. This was their first attempt at this and was not without flaws. it gave EatWestchester the opportunity to judge a dozen or more establishments in one day.The review is limited and is also only a sample of the food and service.

I would like to start off by mentioning several restaurants did not have their act together and opened later than the scheduled start time of 11 am without posting this information. The Copacabana was 2 hours late! The Willett House cancelled at the last minute which seemed to upset many people,some saying they paid for this tour expecting to try The Willett House & they now have a negative opinion towards the restaurant.We were also told that the Euro Asian Bistro was confused and had nothing to offer. The tour group included Patrons,potential new Customers, Food Critics and local News Reporters and of course us at EatWestchester.com.  The places that did not present themselves properly will suffer from the bad publicity and reviews that followed. I would like to Thank those who did participate and some did an outstanding job to say the least.

Here are some highlights and downfalls. We started the tour at The Buffalo Wild Wing Grill. We were greeted by a friendly staff, were seated at a table and brought trays of 3 different kinds of wings and free soft drinks. We could of had as many wings as we would have wanted and the wings were excellent. Next was Applebees and we were a little disappointed whenThey brought out bland vegetable rolls. Panera's was next and they served a great new summer salad and tuna salad with bread. We ate at tables set up outside.At Chavin which serves Peruvian Cuisine we sampled a very bland & tasteless rice dish and a chicken dish and We weren't even told the names of the dishes.We served Ourselves and had no place to sit. Several people told us they are usually better but were probably un prepared. The Copacabana opened late and had a buffet set up on the back deck.The food was good but we never got to see inside or meet anyone from the restaurant. Patricias was closed when we were there. Cousin Frankies USA Grill served pre-made breakfast sandwiches and pancakes.We passed on breakfast. Q BBQ served great pulled pork sliders and were very pleasant. Maryanns seemed to be a big hit and was packed with tour people.They served a buffet with at least 6 different items and all you can eat .Tandoori out did themselves and had a huge buffet with at least 2 dozen choices. The  Tikka Masala Was fantastic! Nessa had only french toast. It was good but not much of a variety. Nessa also had a problem with a very rude member of their staff, but management quickly corrected the problem . Acuario was also excellent with Paella and chicken lo mein. Frankie and Louie's had a buffet set up outside with a chicken dish and penne alla vodka and both were very good. Sonora's has a nice ambiance but only offered cerviche .This did not allow us an opportunity to try any of their other dishes they are noted for. Bar Taco did a fantastic job of renovating what used to be Ebb Tide. The indoor/outdoor layout is very comfortable and cozy,but they also only served cerviche and we saw so many other interesting dishes we would have liked to try. Tarry Market also had some meat and cheese samples .

We are sorry we could not report on more but we had to pass several places that were not open yet and some were closing at the 3 pm deadline and we arrived too late. We had a lot of fun and hope they extend the hours next year. I am sure the success of this tour will attract many more next year and hopefully not as many set backs.

Tommy U
www.EatWestchester.com