By Barb Miltenberger
The 2019 Taste of Oceanside kicked off Friday night with a vibrant VIP rooftop party at the beautiful Pierside South building, with approximately 100 attenders. Delicious appetizers and desserts were provided by O’side Kitchen Collaborative and presentations were made by local impactors on the food scene such as Luke Girling from Cyclops Farm, Ninia Hammond from the North River Farms development and a representative from Green Oceanside. It was the perfect warmup to Saturday’s much anticipated event.
Saturday was a perfect 72 degree day in sunny, downtown Oceanside. This was the 6th Annual Taste of Oceanside event, and if you were lucky enough to score one of the 1,000 tickets sold, you were treated to a day of culinary delights from over 50 food and sip stops. The check-in process was smooth and efficient. Each participant was handed a reusable sip cup and spork utensil, helping to cut down on plastic waste. While it’s always tricky to balance your map, cup, utensil (and for me a camera), we all somehow made it work. The event was three hours long, so unless you were incredibly stealthy, it was simply not possible to make it to all stops. A trolley was available to get you from one end to another which was certainly helpful in the quest to indulge.
Quickly evident were all the beautiful changes going on in downtown Oceanside. There have been tasteful updates, facelifts and many new businesses, especially on the food and drink scene. I was thrilled to be able to sample culinary delights from the freshly opened Blade 1936 and Rosewood Kitchen who opened only one night before Taste of Oceanside! I was also able to sample from many other establishments that I had not previously had the pleasure of exploring. This is truly one of the best things about a tasting event. You are exposed to so many great restaurants, breweries and wineries and can make notes on which places you would like to return to in the future.
I can’t say how strongly enough me and my foodie partner enjoyed our day, tasting our way through the city. We felt that all of the restaurants 100% knocked themselves out and brought out their very best for taste participants. While sadly we could not make it to all stops, our agreed standouts of the day were the brie and crackers, goat cheese croquette and coconut oil roasted mushrooms served at The Miller’s Table, the roasted beets with burrata, avocado mousse and micro greens at Exhale, the shrimp gumbo at Miss Kim’s by That Boy Good and the jamole tostada at Jalisco Cantina. Our favorite sips of the day came from Bagby Beer. Kudos to the organizers and all the helpers it took to pull a first-rate event like this off. I will definitely put this event on my “must do” list for next year and I hope to see you there as well!
Barb Miltenberger
About Around The Town.
I am peoples’ go-to gal to find out what is going on around town and I love that. I love to discover new restaurants, attend local festivals, shop our local businesses and chat with their owners and see the latest plays. I believe I am someone that is trusted in the community regarding my references, and I don’t take that lightly.
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