Last Thursday was the first Taste of the Heights celebration.
There was food, wine, beer and a behind the scenes judging competition. And of course I was there with the roving MBIP Camera and if you missed it or were there and want to relive it, keep on scrolling down for photos of this festive afternoon and evening in Peoria Heights!
The Taste of the Heights was scheduled to begin at 5pm, so I thought I’d be tricky and arrive about twenty minutes early and get some shots of the food vendors before it got crowded. Well it appears other people had the same idea because when I got there, there was already a big crowd on Prospect Road!
I waited in line to get tokens and as you can see, there was quite a line early on.
I spoke with Hugh Higgins, the owner of Hearth restaurant who was directing the Taste of the Heights and he said that next year they’re going to sell tokens in advance so you won’t have to spend as much time in line. That’s a great idea!
My first tokens were spent wisely on a beer! Cheers!
Okay, let’s take a look at some of the vendors that are selling food here today.
Food Vendors
1. The Publik House
2. Jim’s Bistro
3. Joe’s Original Italian
4. Olio & Vino
5. Hearth
6. Cayenne
7. W.E. Sullivan’s
8. Edge
9. Oliver’s
10. Brienzo’s
11. Alwan & Sons
Smiling Faces At The Taste Part One
Here’s some of the smiling faces in the crowd that I captured with the trusty MBIP Camera!
And Now…A Musical Interlude
Random Strangers were playing in the middle of the block and they were serving up some great acoustic tunes.
You can read more about them and see photos and videos at their website by clicking right here.
The Food
Here’s the food I sampled at the Taste of the Heights.
1. Mac and Cheese from the Publik House.
2. Beef Stroganoff from Jim’s Bistro.
3. Pasta and Bolognese from Joe’s Original Italian.
4. A Cowboy Taco from Cayenne.
5. A Crab Cake from Hearth.
6. Pretzel Bites and Beer Cheese from W.E. Sulllivan’s.
7. Chorizo and Cavatelli from Edge.
8. Burnt Ends from Slowhand BBQ.
9. Chicken Wings from Oliver’s.
10. A Pork Chop Sandwich from Alwan & Sons.
11. And for dessert I had Nutella Gelato from Brienzo’s.
There were six judges who participated in a blind judging of all the food and the categories were appetizer, casual entrees and dessert.
Hearth took first place in every single category, so congratulations to Hearth for being the Grand Prize Winner of this year’s Taste of the Heights!
To see all of the entrees from every vendor, just click here.
Hugh Higgins told me that they anticipated a crowd of around 2400 people to show up for this street festival. I talked to him afterwards and he said the crowd ended up being over 4,000 people!
Here’s a shot I took around 6pm and as you can see, it was packed!
Build Peoria had a tent on the street but they weren’t selling food, they were giving out information about their organization and the 3rd annual Chili Cook-Off that’s happening at Dozer Park this Sunday. I’m going to that and hope to see you there!
Smiling Faces At the Taste Part Too
Here’s some more smiling faces from the crowd. Thanks to everyone who posed for the MBIP Camera, it was great to see all of you!
And Now…Another Musical Interlude
The Down River quartet took the stage as evening fell on the festival and they sounded fantastic! The band is: Perry Brubaker on bass, Daniel Watkins on guitar, Ryan Kroll on mandolin and John Howard on fiddle. Check them out on facecrack by clicking right here.
Goodnight Irene
A parting shot from the first Taste of the Heights! This was a blast and I’m looking forward to next year’s Taste already!
Related Post: The MBIP List: Peoria Heights.