Taste of Arcadia is Back Sept. 28

Taste of Arcadia 2015 and Business Showcase at the Taste will be held from 5:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Photos and highlights of last year’s taste of Arcadia 2014 here.
Taste of Arcadia and Business Showcase at the Taste is expected to draw about 1,500 attendees this year who enjoy the many different foods and tastes from at no additional charge beyond the admission ticket from 45 of the most exciting local restaurants, caterers, and wine-and-beer vendors.
Tickets are $65 ($55 for Arcadia Chamber members).

More information below the following fast-paced 3 1/2-minutes of video highlights of the 2013 Taste of Arcadia … (2014 was another record-setter and 2015 will be even bigger and better!)

  

The face of Taste of Arcadia is KLAA 830 AM radio star Peter “King of Cuisine” Dills, who will walk the red carpet, sign autographs in his booth, and be one of the judges of the annual Culinary Contest along with Food Network stars Jyll Everman and Cassandra Pugh, as well as Chef David Flood of Flooded with Flavor Catering Company. This year’s Taste of Arcadia and Business Showcase at the Taste features an additional 40-plus business exhibitors, including car dealers with about a dozen of the newest model cars, plus many new activities:

• A sequel to the popular Hollywood premiere-style Red Carpet Experience created by Printing Control  and new member Selfie Selfie will make you feel like a star in front of the paparazzi as you have photo ops with food media judges, the exotic Brazilian dancers, and other dignitaries and surprise guests. You’ll also have a chance to enter the Red Carpet TV raffle Presented by T.G. Metzger State Farm Insurance.
• The Monday Night Football Lounge returns with live viewing of the game on a big-screen HDTV that will be raffled off just before 9 p.m.

Other attractions include:

• A classic car show presented by Wayne Williams of Professional Advisory Services.
• Not one but three live music performers — one on each of three lawns playing simultaneously all evening long — rockabilly by Memphis Mike and the Swingin’ 8-balls; steel drum carribean and pop rock artist Chris Arpad;  and popular ballads by solo female guitarist Katie Ferrara.
• Daniela Brazil and her popular exotic Brazilian dancers
• MonArc Face/Body Painting and Balloon Animals — let the popular Taste of Arcadia wine glass/peacock logo live a little longer with a temporary tattoo on your cheek or arm!
• The Arcadia High School drum line serenading attendees as they arrive.

Food judges including Arcadia Chamber Citizens of the Year Jim and Terry Leahy will sample food, desserts and drinks from dozens of vendors throughout the entire evening. Winners will need to be present and still serving to guests when judges announce their selections near the end of the event at 9 p.m. in the following categories:

• Best of Show
• Most Innovative Dish
• Best Savory Item
• Best Dessert Item
• Best Presentation

Our sincere gratitude to the unprecedented number of top sponsors that have allowed Taste of Arcadia to become the biggest and most exciting ever:

• Presenting Gold Sponsors:
   Westfield Santa Anita – also year-round Community Builder Presenting Sponsor Member of Arcadia Chamber of Commerce through 2015-2016; and Chamber LED sign sponsor.
   Methodist Hospital of Southern California through 2016-17– also year-round Community Builder Presenting Sponsor Member of Arcadia Chamber of Commerce.Business Showcase at the Taste Sponsor – –
• Business Showcase at the Taste Sponsor – Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary – also year-round Keystone 365 Connection Sponsor Member of the monthly Networking Breakfasts and Chamber LED sign sponsor.
• Ticket Sponsor: Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority

Boundless thanks to the tireless Taste of Arcadia Committee of volunteers, including:

• Bruce McCallum, CTO (Chief Taste Officer)
• Vicki Knight (Century Rooter Service and Plumbing), Business Showcase vendors & support of Food/Beverage vendors

We also thank the dozens of volunteer workers at the event.
And those going above-and-beyond their paid compensation:

• Wayne Tay (Town & Country Event Rentals), Overall Facility logistics, layout
• Arcadia Chamber of Commerce staff and consultants/contractors: Kim Arnold, Kristy Thatcher Bradshaw, Bill Hacket, Lisa Ferrick, and Scott Hettrick

  Story continues following fliers below and four video highlights of the 2012 event from the Chamber’s YouTube Channel, and photo gallery… >

Extended highlights in a six-and-a-half overview, including a nearly two-minute collection of clips and behind-the-scenes footage from the KTLA TV-5 production…

An 11-minute collection of interviews and highlights from attendee Gib Whitney’s Wide Eyed Productions company… A snappy and sophisticated 3 1/2-minute highlight reel produced by Andrew Gregson of The Executive Factor in Arcadia…

<Hundreds of photos in gallery below provided by the Chamber, ArcadiasBest.com, Andrew Gregson at The Executive Factor, Joan Schmidt of Mountain Views News, and Gib Whitney of Wide Eyed Productions…> [flagallery gid=53 name=”Taste of Arcadia”] (Click here to see videos of other years of Taste.) As always, a percentage of proceeds from Taste of Arcadia are donated to local non-profit organizations — $5 per ticket for every ticket sold by a pre-approved organization. Taste of Arcadia began as a much smaller event nearly 40 years ago to raise money for the Arcadia Tournament of Roses Association float. Known as both The Wines Shed Mixer and A Taste of Arcadia was held on the infield at Santa Anita Park for a period of time. When the AToR dissolved in 1999, all assets, including the annual fund-raiser, were transferred to the Chamber. The Chamber continued the food and wine event at Santa Anita for a few years under various names, including the Festival of Food, before moving it to the L.A. County Arboretum several years later and adopting the name of Taste of Arcadia.