Taste of Williamsville
5556 Main Street, Williamsville, NY 14221
Web: Taste of Williamsville
Phone: 716.632.4120
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"Given the vendors here, this Taste should really go on for two days rather than one; it would be even more enticing on a weekend than it currently is in the middle of the week."

How often does a Western New York food festival include the debut of an as-yet-unopened restaurant? Where else do items such as fancy french fries and a Kobe Beef Hot Dog compete with fancy gazpachos and high-end seafood dishes to wow our tongues? That, in short, was the 2009 Taste of Williamsville: a great big party in the park, complete with an Elvis impersonator providing evening entertainment, and a fire truck with a running hose that kids could hold for pictures. Far better organized for crowds than yesterday's Taste of Clarence, and similarly packed with people, the Island Park event offered free neighborhood parking and access to 24 different restaurants. Tickets were sold for 50 cents each, and required for all food and drink purchases. Here's what was exciting.

JoJo Bistro. Ask us what we never would have expected to be excited about before arriving at the Taste and we would have said "french fries and sandwiches," but lo and behold, that's what we found when we dropped by JoJo Bistro - a just-about-to-open restaurant that will be located next to Black & Blue Steak & Crab on Sheridan Drive, and owned by the same people. JoJo was offering French fare, including Truffled Parmesan Frites - some delicious fries, fresh out of the cooker and dusted with parmesan cheese - and the Croque Monsieur on Brioche, a beautifully buttered and grilled sandwich with sliced ham and cheese inside. We were both taken with the Frites and loved the preparation of the sandwich, even if its ingredients were a little plain. We're anxious to give this place a try when it opens.

Verbena Grille. Having recently acquired a new chef after a reportedly rough previous run, Verbena impressed us with its only two offerings. First was a very light Cucumber and White Grape Gazpacho, a summer treat of slightly gritty, cool cucumber broth and a single sliced white grape in the center. Second and even better was a single Pan Roasted Scallop with Risotto Milanese, a lightly crispy-edged scallop that was perfectly tender inside, served atop soft rice, all coated in a slightly sharp tomato sauce. We really enjoyed the Scallop, and would have gladly had more.

Gate House Grill. We were impressed by Gate House at last year's Taste, and came away even more excited after sampling a dessert item here - the Coconut Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Gelee. Served in a uniquely angular cup with its gelatin-like, sweet and sour passion fruit topping helping to mix with bites of the moderately dense coconut pudding, this dessert was delicious, creamy, and beautiful. A curved Chinese-style flour noodle was on top, and a mint leaf on one side. We'd have gone back for more, but the line was too dauntingly long to ride twice.

Citta di Militello. There were so many items to choose from at Militello's that we didn't know where to begin, so we picked three that sounded interesting. Best of the bunch was the Caponatina, a cold dish of eggplant, tomato and onion chunks served with a bruschetta-like slice of bread. The Caponatina's green eggplant pieces were firm and flavorful, with the taste of a little tomato paste to bind everything together; we really liked it. Less impressive was Militello's Stuffed Hot Pepper, one of two we tried at this Taste; it had breading and the requisite pepper, and was better than the other we tried (see below), but neither element was especially memorable. Gooey cheese would have helped a lot. Last and least was the Sicilian Style Romano Pizza, a slice of nearly cold bread and tomato sauce with some crumbled cheese on top; this wouldn't have been good enough to serve as a freebie before most Italian meals.

Glen Park Tavern. As the site of another stuffed hot pepper - here, "Tony's Stuffed Hot Peppers" - Glen Park didn't make a big impression with its thin, grilled, and only half-filled green Hungarian pepper, which again had so-so breading and no cheese inside. Glen Park's Angus Steak Tenderloin Sandwich was an incredibly small piece of relatively plain steak on an oversized bun. The soft bun wound up being more memorable than the meat and spinach-like greens, mostly because there was more bun to taste in every bite than beef.

Bing's. Every time we visit a Bing's booth (see: Taste of Buffalo 2008, Taste of Williamsville 2008), we somehow keep coming back to try the same thing: crab cakes. You'd think we'd remember them by now, but they don't make a big impression. This time, they were actually different from what we'd had in the past; we liked how the two relatively small browned lumps tasted, but they were almost entirely breading - good breading - rather than crab, small flecks of which could be found inside.

Sonoma Grille. Another Taste of Williamsville, another appearance by Sonoma Grille with "Kobe beef" items that you'd never be able to distinguish from... well, non-Kobe beef versions. This year, we got lured into trying the Kobe Hot Dog, which tasted like virtually any plain grilled beef dog we've had in the past. It wasn't bad, but let's be clear: Wagyu cows don't need to be beer-fed and massaged to make snacks like this, and we'd be surprised if any actually were.

Go Veggies. This vegetarian stand had four different items to choose from, so we went with the Mango Pudding, which earned mixed responses. One of us was pleased by the nicely-sized bowl, finding the first bite of sweet mango-flavored dessert to be especially good, but with each passing bite in the 80-degree heat, the pudding's consistency became a little less stable, and our last bites were like room temperature bursts of semi-gelatinous fruit. Neither of us was thrilled by the end of the dish. We'll blame this one on the setting and the refrigeration.

Other restaurants exhibiting at the 2009 Taste of Williamsville were ones we've previously covered, including Di Camillos - here with tiramisu - the Red Mill Inn, Brennan's Bowery Bar, Anderson's, Hirsch's , Black & Blue Steak & Crab, Sweet Jenny's, Frog Hair, Coffee Culture, The Irishman, and La Tolteca. Applebee's, Riva's Pizzeria, the Creekview Restaurant, and the Buffalo Brew Pub were also selling food, while Dave & Busters was offering prizes.

Based on the variety and quality of the restaurants, and lacking only in longevity and enough table seating for the crowds, our feeling is that the Taste of Williamsville is the area's second-best neighborhood food festival. Given the vendors here, this Taste should really go on for two days rather than one; it would be even more enticing on a weekend than it currently is in the middle of the week. With Saturday and Sunday options, we'd be tempted to come back a second time, as unlike the Taste of Clarence, we left stuffed and with plenty of other items on our list of wants. They'll have to wait for individual restaurant visits, which we're frankly looking forward to.