Foodies, shoppers, and music lovers gathered at the Maplewood Street Festival on Saturday for the neighborhood event now in its 7th year. As one of three judges, I sample the Green Chili Cheese Bread from Great Harvest Bread.
I know the Good Book say, “judge not,” but I couldn’t resist the invitation to judge the Taste of Maplewood Street Festival this weekend. Along with Lern Elwell/KSHE95 and Charlie Gutherie of We Eat Stuff blog, we nibbled our way through more than a dozen entries.
Lern Colvin, KSHE95; Charlie Gutherie of We Eat Stuff blog; and Jean Carnahan of GoodFoodSTL prepare for their food judging adventure.
Anne Carman and I share a tasty tamale from Las Palmas during the Maplewood street festival.
We treated our taste buds in several categories: Best Sweet Tooth (desserts); Best Savory Dish (presentation/flavor); Best Overall; and Best Cocktail/Mocktail. I opted out of the latter, since being a teetotaler during my formative years, I felt ill-qualified. (Though my grandfather was much-revered in his farm community for operating a whiskey still during Prohibition—for medical purposes, I’m told. But I digress.)
My clipboard shows signs of food smears from a some of the many dishes I enjoyed.
Pig Gastropub featured its “pig wings,” addictive, sweet-tasting bacon strips on a skewer.
Chowing down on a yummy Bolyard’s Banger with Cheese
Seen on the Street
Tired puppy gets a lift.
The hazards of crossing the street are not always the vehicles.
A better view
Don’t try this at home!
Winners of the Taste of Maplewood Street Festival
Judges pose with the award winners.
It was a tough decision, but we finally came up with the following winners.
- Best Sweet Tooth: Aztec Chocolate Bread from Great Harvest Bread
- Best Savory Dish: Plantain and Chorizo Empanada from Maya Cafe
- Best Cocktail/Mocktail: Sutton’s Gone a Rye from Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions
- Best of the Best: Mayan Cafe
The 2016 winner of the Taste of Maplewood “Best of the Best” was the Plantain and Chorizo Empanada from Maya Cafe.
Other entries that we especially enjoyed were the Goat Cheese Truffles from Kakao Chocolate and the Spicy Chickpea Vindaloo from Larder & Cupboard.
Even a short visit to Maplewood and you’ll fall in love with the friendly city with the charm of a small town. The community takes pride in its many fine places to eat and their annual street festival is another chance to strut their stuff. A shout out is due Jeanine Beck, Director of the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce, for another lively, successful celebration.
