Taste of Traverse City
It’s not too early to make plans for Labor Day Weekend if you’re headed somewhere as trendy as northern Michigan.
In fact, tickets are on sale now for the second annual Taste of Traverse City Festival, set for August 29 through 31, 2014.
The three-day event begins Friday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. with the Downtown Grub Crawl — a “sip, sample & shop” tour celebrating downtown Traverse City. Each participant receives a “Grub Crawl Survival” kit, and can choose to stroll or shuttle to the many participating businesses.
Saturday’s festivities will be held from noon until 6 p.m. at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, and includes culinary samplings, chef demonstrations, seminars, wine, beer and spirit tastings, shopping and entertainment.
One new feature of the 2014 event is an intimate “dining in the dark experience” led by chefs of the resort’s Aerie Restaurant and Lounge. The 2 p.m. experience uses blindfolds to eliminate diners’ sense of sight and heighten the senses of taste, smell, touch and sound.
Saturday evening’s main event is the White House Dinner, also held at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. Guests will join former White House Executive Chef and Iron Chef contestant Walter Scheib as he serves up favorite dishes of past presidents amid personal and often humorous stories from his 11 years as a presidential chef.
The festival concludes Sunday with The Best of the Brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hagerty Center on West Grand Traverse Bay. Teams of chefs, farmers, and beverage companies will compete together to prepare a perfectly paired and presented brunch station. Guests have an opportunity to sample all the stations and vote for their personal favorite.
Tickets are available online.
(Photo courtesy of Taste of Traverse City)
