Festival back for eleventh year
By Elena Buckley | SDUN Editorial Assistant
From Kensington to Normal Heights, through parts of North Park and University Heights, the Adams Avenue Business District is a bustling hub of restaurants, pubs, coffee houses, bars and antique shops, and on June 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Taste of Adams will bring you a sample of all the district has to offer.
For $25 in advance or $30 at the door, you can stroll, drive or take one of three complimentary trolleys along Adams Avenue while sampling entrées, desserts and appetizers from 30 different participants.
For the eleventh year in a row, the Adams Avenue Business Association (AABA) has organized this $30,000 event, never failing to meet its goal of selling 1,200 tickets each year. Jim Schneider, executive director of AABA, said the event gives people an opportunity to try places they’ve had an eye on for a while, and entice those who enjoy the tastes to come back for more.
Although trolley service is available and will drop people off along the route, “some people do choose to walk the whole thing because let’s face it, it’s a lot of food and you’ve got to work it off,” Schneider said.
Participating restaurants include Kensington Grill, Bleu Boheme, Blind Lady Alehouse, Tao Restaurant and Thai Joint, among others. Coffee houses include Lestat’s and Twiggs Bakery and Coffeehouse; bars include Air Conditioned Lounge, Cueva Bar—which will be serving samples of dessert empanadas—and Rosie O’Gradys, which will be serving as “cooling stations,” to allow those who are walking to escape from the sun, grab some water and rest.
Participants can choose whichever item on the various menus they want to sample—from entrées to desserts to appetizers, and, for the first time, three or four of the restaurants will offer drink samples, but only for those over 21 with identification.
Bleu Boheme, which recently won “Best Continental French” at the California Restaurant Association’s Gold Medallion Awards, will serve samples of Escargot a la Portugais—escargot in red wine with tomatoes, chick peas, linguica sausages and a bleu cheese potato croquette—just like last year, due to its great success. This year though, chef and owner Ken Irvine explained that Bleu Boheme will be using a different technique, grilling the escargot on a barbeque.
“[The best part of Taste of Adams is] watching the people smile and enjoy the foods, the area, being surprised by the very cool other shops here on Adams Avenue as they’re walking from restaurant to restaurant.” Schneider said. “I always say that the biggest joy for me is watching everyone have fun.”
For more information, visit adamsavenuebusiness.com or macfarlanepromotions.com, or call MacFarlane Promotions at 233-5008.
