More than 400 people show up for 2015 Taste of Hoover event at Aldridge Gardens [Video]
About 430 people came out to Aldridge Gardens tonight for the fourth annual Taste of Hoover event.
Twenty-five Hoover restaurants and at least six catering companies offered samples of their food for people to taste, Aldridge Gardens CEO Tynette Lynch said. In addition, the Jefferson State Culinary and Hospitality Institute gave cooking demonstrations.
International Wines and Back Forty Beer provided wine and beer tastings, and Coca-Cola and Royal Cup Coffee served soft drinks, water and coffee. Musical entertainment was provided by Racquel Lily.
This year’s turnout was about double the number of people from last year, Lynch said.
“I think it went great. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful night,” she said. “What I enjoy is that everybody stays instead of just coming in and leaving.”
The atmosphere is very much like a lawn party.
Peter Northcutt, an Inverness resident, said he thought the event organizers did a great job. He’s a vegetarian and is pretty selective about his food, but he still found plenty to eat, he said.
The Whole Scoop ice cream parlor had some excellent pumpkin ice cream, and RX Catering had some delicious pumpkin dip, Northcutt said. He’s an avid cook and enjoyed watching the Jefferson State Culinary and Hospitality Institute make pot stickers, an Asian dish with pork, cabbage and onions, he said.
He also picked up a lot of cards from the catering companies, he said.
Participating restaurants ranged from Shula’s Steak House at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel to the Relish Café inside Hoover Tactical Firearms.
Other vendors included:
- Ashley Mac's Café & Catering
- Bare Naked Noodles
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- California Pizza Kitchen
- Capers on Park Avenue
- Costco
- Dale’s Southern Grill
- Edgar's Bakery
- Five Star Event Catering
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- Jim ‘n’ ‘Nick’s Bar-B-Q
- Joe’s Crab Shack
- Jubilee Joe’s
- Newk’s Eatery
- Pastry Art Bake Shoppe
- Pie Five Pizza Co.
- Ragtime Café
- RX Catering
- Savoie Catering
- Spoon and Ladle
- Taqueria Mexico
- Taziki’s Mediterranean Café
- The Boot
- The Cajun Cleaver
- The Happy Catering Co.
- The Whole Scoop
- Urban Pops
- Vecchia Pizzeria & Mercato
Tickets for the Taste of Hoover were $25 for gardens members and $35 for non-members, with proceeds going to Aldridge Gardens. The event was a sell-out and probably raised about $10,000 for Aldridge, Lynch said.
About half the tickets this year were sold to the Eternal Word Television Network, which gave them to people from all over the country who came to the EWTN annual conference at the Hyatt Regency.
Lynch said she was excited for people from all over the country to get to experience both Aldridge Gardens and the many fine restaurants in Hoover.
The Hoover Sun was a partner in the event.