2016 Taste of Huntington Beach Winners

Last Sunday, we participated at the Annual Taste of Huntington Beach as a volunteer and sponsor. Surf City Family had a little booth at the end of the tent. Our collaborators Wise Fool laid out a cool set up with t-shirts and mugs featuring the work of local Huntington Beach artists including Surf City Family contributors photographer Larry Tenney and Shot Hunters Media. Our friends at Fuel Juice were also at the event serving up their cold-pressed juices but they also hung out with us. But enough about that.. what was amazing was #TASTEHB itself.

Over 2500 people attended the 2016 Taste of Huntington Beach, setting a new attendance record for the annual event that benefits the Children’s Department of the Huntington Beach Public Library.

Celebrity guest judge Simon Majumdar of the Food Network named Shades Restaurant’s PB & J as the Best of the Best at the Taste of Huntington Beach. Shades is at the Waterfront Beach Resort, a Hilton Hotel. The top food winners were: St. Marc Pub-Café (Appetizer Category), Simply Layered (Dessert Category), and Market Broiler (Entrée Category). The top beverage winners were: Navarro Vineyards (Red Wine Category), Cholame Vineyard (White Wine Category) and Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Beer).

I event took a selfie with Simon Majumdar, who you may recognize from shows like Cutthroat Kitchen and Iron Chef.

A photo posted by Marcie Taylor (@marcietaylor) on Apr 24, 2016 at 5:37pm PDT

Below is the complete list of winners:

FOOD WINNERS
Appetizer Category
1st Place – St. Marc Pub-Café for their Bacon Wrapped Dates and Watermelon Skewers
2nd Place – 2nd Floor for their Pork Belly Taco
3rd Place – Watertable Restaurant for their Burrata
Dessert Category
1st Place – Simply Layered for their Carrot Cake
2nd Place – Traditional Twist Bakery for their Mexican Chocolate Spicy Brownie
3rd Place – Tea Arias for their Crepe Cake

ENTRÉE Category
1st Place – Market Broiler for their Salmon Dish
2nd Place – Huntington Terrace Senior Living for their Braised Pork Butt over Croissant Parmesan Bread Pudding
3rd Place – Slapfish for their Lobster Roll
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD:
Four Sons Brewing
BEST DECORATED BOOTH:
1st Place – Chronic Jerky
2nd Place – Old World Euro Market, Bakery and Deli
MOST ENTHUSIASTIC:
1st Place – solita
2nd Place – Red Table
BEST OF THE BEST/ Simon Majumdar Award
Shades Restaurant for their PB & J

RED WINE Category
1st Place – Navarro Vineyards (2013 Pinot Noir)
2nd Place – Nielson (2013 Pinot Noir)
3rd Place – Pomar Junction (2013 Red Blend – Train Wreck)
WHITE WINE Category
1st Place – Cholame (Chardonnay)
2nd Place – Navarro Vineyard (Gewürztraminer)
3rd Place – Pomar Junction (Grenache Blanc)
BEER Category
1st Place = Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Luponic Distortion IPA)
2nd Place – Sierra Nevada Brew Co. (Nooner)
3rd Place – Wyder ( Raspberry Cider )

Here are some of our favorite photos from the event. By the way, many thanks to Larry Tenney for doing an Instagram Takeover at @surfcity_family