Taste of Main brings good eats, and good deeds
Published 4:23 pm Saturday, August 18, 2012
Hundreds of residents descended upon Old Bellevue Saturday to stuff their stomachs for a good cause.
The fourth annual Taste of Main took over the historic area as restaurant vendors, galleries and many other businesses on the block participated in the charitable event.
Proceeds from Taste of Main go straight to the Children’s Response Center, a program out of Harborview Medical Center that provides services for children and teens who have experienced physical abuse, sexual assault or other traumatic events. The center also provides healing through critical services offered to non-offending family members.
Businesses helped out in the effort by sponsoring the event, with packages starting at $250, said Sally Martinez, community affairs coordinator for the center. The event also featured musicians, silent auctions, a car show, and special children’s activities.
Philanthropic foodies helped the cause by buying a passport. For $40, they received the chance to try samples from some of Main’s most iconic restaurants.
Among the most popular vendors at the festival was Cantinetta. The Italian hotspot, which opened an original location in Wallingford, has taken part in the event for three years. Saturday, head chef Emran Chowdhury was on hand preparing a dish composed of heirloom tomatoes, topped with a burrata cheese, similar to a creamy mozzarella and olive oil, that people couldn’t pass up.
“We always like to be part of the community,” he said. “That’s what we try to be with the restaurant, a community gathering place.”
For some restaurants it was a way to help the community, for others a way to get their name out there. But for the Children’s Response Center, the Taste of Main has been a game-changer.
The organization serves north and East King County. Though Bellevue is known for its affluent population, trouble for children still exists. According to her figures, in 2011 Bellevue had 511 child abuse victims.
“People think it doesn’t happen in our community, but it is here and we are the ones seeing the children and helping them heal,” she said.
Cantinetta head chef Emran Chowdhury hands out samples at the Taste of Main. NAT LEVY, Bellevue Reporter
