Gourmets Rejoice at Full Calendar of Food-Laden Festivals
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Food and fundraising often go hand in hand, but in San Angelo don’t look for a lot of pancake breakfasts or spaghetti suppers.
Area cultural organizations turn to the city’s restaurants when they’re looking to drum up support, and the eateries never disappoint. So whether it’s Savor the Flavor, Concho Chocolate Festival, Taste of San Angelo or the San Angelo Wine and Food Festival, the happy combination of great food and community support sets lips smacking year ‘round.
The Taste of San Angelo is an October event that has grown from a handful of participants in the back of a restaurant parking lot to an event that now has more than 40 participants and feeds upwards of 5,000. Presented by the San Angelo Restaurant Association, the funds raised go to local culinary arts programs and for scholarships. It’s also given birth to a cookbook of the same name, a joint venture between the SARA and the San Angelo Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It’s a good partnership between the chamber and our local restaurants,” says John Fuentes, president of the restaurant association and owner of Fuentes Café Downtown, a fixture on the San Angelo dining scene since 1984. “They help promote the restaurants and the event, and it ties the restaurants in with tourism and everything that they do.”
The cookbook, which debuted in October 2007, is the brainchild of Eve Keim, visitor center coordinator, who says that she wanted something that could serve as a souvenir of the city and also promote the local dining scene.
“I always look at cookbooks when I travel, so my idea was to gather recipes from anyone who wanted to share and to ask SARA members if they would give us some of their prize recipes,” Keim says. “Many of them agreed, and so we named the cookbook after the festival and a dollar from every sale goes to the scholarship fund.”
In addition to recipes and helpful hints, the cookbook also offers up lots of interesting tidbits on things, such as the Concho pearl and the International Water Lily Collection that make San Angelo unique.
Another treat for the tastebuds is the annual San Angelo Wine and Food Festival, presented each spring by the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council. The event, which will mark its 25th anniversary in 2009, features outstanding food and wines complemented by live music. For some events over the years, attendees also have enjoyed members of San Angelo’s Intense Football League team – the Stampede Express – serving as waiters and pourers.
The festival has been a bigger success with each passing year, says Tara Rainey, executive director of the cultural affairs council, who adds that San Angelo has earned a well-deserved reputation as an arts town.
“The hospitality of the people and the extensive array of arts programming, groups and support here have gained a reputation nationally,” Rainey says. “San Angelo and Concho Valley residents take great pride in their city and what it has to offer, and their dedication to making this area prosper is limitless.”
The San Angelo Symphony has experienced that support, not just in terms of attendance at its performances, but for its fundraising efforts over the course of each season. The symphony’s Savor the Flavor Series treats diners throughout the year to everything from a home-cooked meal in a private residence to a chuck wagon dinner at Fort Concho to a brunch that also features bridge and mah-jongg playing, says Jennifer Odom, executive director.
“Our dinner offers have changed as the volunteer hosts have changed,” Odom says. “They plan the dinner at their own expense, and our dinners are now eagerly anticipated. They sell out as soon as the series brochure is mailed out.”
And don’t forget to save room for dessert: The symphony rolled out the Concho Chocolate Festival in 2007.
Done in partnership with Shannon Right Choices for Youth, the February festival is its own miniseries of events that include a spa night, candy fashion show, chocolate tasting and dinner featuring chocolate-infused goodies.
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Wes Aldridge
