Savor the Flavor: A Feast of Food, Friends

I first found out about “Savor the Flavor in Waukesha County” through a colleague on the Resource and Development Committee at Habitat for Humanity.  I have to admit that I was sort of nervous about going because Kelly and her husband Billy were the only ones I knew attending.  How would I get around?  What would the table configuration be like?

I was confident in my greatest strength, networking.  I knew both Kelsey and Carolyn from the Waukesha County Business Alliance who planned this event for the second year in a row. They tell me this is their biggest fundraiser. The event was sold out with 250 people attending.

In addition to all the wonderful restaurants, there was a raffle which included great items like tickets to a Brewers and Cubs game, which was the item I wanted to win the most, and gift certificates to various restaurants represented at the event.

The night started out great. I wasn’t even inside the door three minutes and Mary from the Business Alliance offered to buy me a beer. Who doesn’t accept that?  It would be good to wash down all the food I was about to eat. I didn’t have to worry about leaving this event hungry.

I started my food journey out with some barbecued pork and a small side of baked beans from Pat’s Rib Place.  If you haven’t been to their restaurant on East Sunset Drive in Waukesha, you have no idea what you are missing.  As an aside, the atmosphere at their restaurant is terrific. Not only is their food high-quality, but the blues music they play at their location makes it what it is.  On my first plate, I was also given a Cuban Pulled Pork Slider from “Chef Jeff” and Generations at the Five Points.  This restaurant mainly serves appetizers and is located on 294 W. Main St. in Waukesha.

Although not specifically in Waukesha, I have to talk about Merrill Hills Country Club and their offering to this event. I took a pass on the braised ostrich at first. I commented later to one of my many helpers that “something smells like bacon.”  Sure enough, I was directed to the braised ostrich.

Sure enough, I knew the chef. Jason Zellner and I wrestled together at Waukesha North High School. It is a compliment to the chef when I asked for seconds and even thirds, so I did.

The city of Waukesha was represented well upstairs in the hall.  That’s where all the desserts were. So, I can just say I got my exercise several times, I won’t say how many times I went upstairs to grab a dessert. Rochester Deli not only had their signature almond macaroon and peanut butter cookies. The owner, Dan, also made a special banana chocolate chip bread pudding for this event, which tasted really good.

I mentioned to Dan and Laura that they have a good social networking presence, so you should follow them on either Facebook or YTwitter.  Dan and Laura were also nice enough to send my friends and I home with doggy bags of cookies.

I was also networking with current Waukesha mayor Jeff Scrima, who I consider a close friend.

To cleanse the pallet, Ayhan Munzur and his crew from Café De Arts had both plain and flavored coffees.  Being that Ayhan’s shop is mainly open during breakfast and lunch time hours, I apologized to him for not coming to visit his Bank Street café a little more often.  I did tell him that I would send Waukesha Patch readers there however.

The last stop for desserts was historic downtown Waukesha’s favorite chocolate shop, Allo! Chocolat.  Roger and Carrie were featuring wine truffles and raspberry chocolate cups. After all my food feasting was complete, I said what I usually say after eating a lot of food, “I won’t need to eat for another three weeks now.”