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Taste of the Nation 2012.

August 26, 2012 by Carolina

Last year was my first time attending Taste of the Nation so this year, knowing what a great event it is, I was very excited to go this year. Taste of the Nation events happen all over the US & raise money to help prevent child hunger.  By putting together an incredible food & drink event solely showcasing each city’s best local restaurants, Taste of the Nation ticket sales are all dedicated to helping children get fed — you read that right, 100% of ticket sales go to end child hunger, how incredible is that? This event is not only a foodie’s paradise but most importantly, it’s for a great cause.

I was happy to be invited this year with a guest, so Saturday night we got dressed up & headed out for a night of food, drinks & lots of fun. The first stop on our Taste of the Nation experience this year had to be the Bananas Foster station! Okay I lied, the first stop was the wine station then the bananas foster. Last year by the time I discovered it they had ran out of most of the ingredients & this year I couldn’t leave this event without getting the real deal — boy was the wait worth it. This dessert melts in your mouth & hits you with delicious cinammon, rum & sugar flavors; it’s incredible!

It has to be said: the drink selection at Taste of the Nation is stellar: wine, beer & mixed drinks as far as the eye can see! We enjoyed delicious sparkling pink moscato, prosceco, pinot grigio, local beer from Redlight Redlight, Kentucky bourbon & coke, agave tequila shots…so many options. With non-alcohol stations like flavored water & coke, there truly are options for everyone.

After enjoying the heavenly bananas foster we enjoyed what became my favorite dish of the night: Spaghetti squash with roasted vegetable ragu & a parmesan crisp. The seasonings of this dish were right on & when there’s parmesan crisps involved you really can’t go wrong. We liked this dish so much later in the night we went back for seconds. Yummy!

In addition to the spaghetti squash we tried a vegetable bastille, gazpacho shooters, fried yucca with sauce, a delicious seleciton of cheeses & as always lots of desserts, my favorite. There were so many amazing desserts its hard to pick a favorite so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Are you drooling yet? So good! Also good? Seeing some of my favorite bloggers at this event! The first person I bumped into was Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers, I then met Maria from Second Harvest Food Bank (thanks for the invite Maria!). I also saw the most adorable pregnant women you’ll ever see, Katy Widrick from KatyWidrick.com & Victoria from Running Peanut (most of the photos you see on this post were taken by the amazing Victoria). On my way out I spotted Tasty Chomps & Laura from Amplified Culture. Everyone was really enjoying themselves, the food, the people — it was a great night!

Make sure to check out all of our pictures from the night by liking us on Facebook. I will definitely be attending Taste of the Nation next year & you should too! You really can’t beat the food, the drinks, the incredible cause you’re supporting. Have you been to Taste of the Nation?