Main Street organization brings food, music and art together for 5th annual event

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN

This is not your ordinary Taste. North Park Main Street’s 2013 Taste of North Park – held Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. – is an effort to bring the entire community together, from restaurants, small shops and breweries to musicians and artists, in part to highlight just what makes this hip neighborhood tick.

“Our goal is to make this an entire district event, so what we really want to do is pull in all the things that make North Park what it is,” said Angela Landsberg, North Park Main Street executive director.

For Landsberg, that means getting everyone involved, including stores Vintage Religion, Pigment and Aloha Sunday Supply Company, as well as newcomers Waypoint Public and Bottlecraft. It also means featuring artists who will perform and paint in front of businesses that day.

“Our focus is arts, culture and entertainment in North Park,” Landsberg said. “It’s activating the area with music and art.”

Of course, this even means bringing in stores that some may think have nothing to do with an official taste event, including, Landsberg said, The Original Paw Pleasers.

“They do an amazing business,” Landsberg said of the full-service dog and cat bakery located at 2818 University Ave. “They get the brewers to give them some of their hops and barley, and they make dog treats out of it.”

In addition to baked goods and ice cream treats for animals, Paw Pleasers also offers a second perk – Pet-i-Cures by Tess – and Landsberg said North Park Main Street was thrilled to have this no-so-typical business participate.

Another non-typical business participating, Landsberg said, is North Park Bikes, located at 3022 North Park Way. The bicycle, accessories and repair shop will be hosting Belching Beaver Brewery, one of 13 local beer makers pouring four-ounce samples of their craft beer to eligible participants.

“They’re such community folk; we’re really happy to have their business here,” Landsberg said of North Park Bikes. “That’s one of the things that this event does. It really pulls people together because there’s so much collaboration between the restaurants, the breweries, North Park Main Street [and] even the residents.”

Additional breweries participating include Latitude 33 Brewing Company, Thorn Street Brewery, Green Flash Brewing Company, Lagunitas Brewing Company and Hess Brewing, among others.

But for many, the main point Oct. 5 will be the food. And Landsberg said her neighborhood has plenty to offer almost any palate.

“We’re such a heavy concentration of really great restaurants,” she said. “It’s a destination for people, so to have [the restaurants] all within a couple-mile radius that people can access during the day with one tickets makes it a good event.”

While walkable for some, Landsberg is aware that radius extends several blocks south on 30th Street and several west on University Avenue. The hub might be the cluster of restaurants near the intersection of University Avenue and 30th Street, but the reach is greater.

To help, Landsberg said they would be offering free transportation, shuttling people along 30th Street from Sea Rocket Bistro near Upas Street, as well as back and forth on University Avenue, reaching as far as PECs bar near Florida Street.

“It’s also great because if people want to park a little further away, they can … take a shuttle where they need to go,” she said.

Restaurants for this year’s Taste include everything from macrobiotic, plant-based food at Casa de Luz and pie from URBN Coal Fired Pizza, to vegan dishes from Sipz Vegetarian Fuzion Café and treats from Heaven Sent Desserts.

“We’ve got Smoking Goat, which really puts out a nice product,” Landsberg said, “and Cardamom will be doing some of their food that’s now causing a line out their door for breakfast these days.”

The selection is not endless, but with 37 restaurants – and an additional 13 beer tastings – all packed into five hours, attendees just may need that shuttle after all.

For tasting the craft beer, attendees 21 and older must check in with picture identification at the will-call booth located at University Avenue and Ohio Street to receive a wristband. An additional booth will be stationed at Upas and 30th streets.

Tickets are $35 per person, and are available in advance at the event website. On the day of the event Oct. 5, tickets increase to $40. For information on participating restaurants, breweries, businesses and artists, visit tastenorthpark.com or call North Park Main Street at 619-294-2501.

Featured Musicians + Artists
Bebe Brookman
Tenesee Hunt
Wilna Wolf
Suzanne Gegna
Kim Franklin
Andrea Malave
Krystin Withers
Cathy Bennett
BJ Glowacki
Helen Hawes