Taste Of Lakewood Yeow! Talk About Parties!
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:44 pm
This past Sunday Lakewood had two stellar events, Bike for Beck, and Taste of Lakewood. Two great fun events held on the same day that benefited Lakewood non-profits and helped to build and define the “brand” Lakewood, aka known as the city we live in and love. While many hate the term “branding” it is a very legitimate thing to do and think about as we have said for decades. After all, a city’s brand is what initially brings people to a town, and then hopefully good times and clean safe streets help win them over and eventually become residents, business owners and volunteers. It is a never ending story of successes and failures that are read and reported by outsiders that create the “stir.”
Lakewood has been known as a city that appreciates the arts and music for decades, and one of the very real reasons is the Beck Center. Who can forget just 7 years ago the Beck Center was getting ready to move to Crocker Park in Westlake. The uproar, and rightly so, was so loud from residents and patrons of the arts, that not only did they stay, but they appointed a Lakewoodite to the position of CEO and president, Cindy Einhouse. What a good move. The Beck has continued to grow, increasing arts and music classes, and their presence and impact on Lakewood. So Bike the Beck started at 9am, and by the time I got down there at 9:05 cyclists were leaving on their various bike routes all hoping to arrive back in time for the cake cutting.
Cutting the cake, celebrating 80 fabulous years!
The cake was a massive 250lb popcorn cake from Campbell’s Sweets, and it was pretty impressive. Though most of us were wondering how the hell do you cut a 250lb popcorn cake? If you every had a popcorn ball, or popcorn cake you know how dense they can be, and a 250lb one cannot be that easy to cut. No matter, that was for later in the day. Right now it was off to try a crepe, and check out the bikes. Amanda Harland from Bike Lakewood had a table, Bike Cleveland had a table, Ray’s Mountain Bike had a table-- well a whole mini Ray’s Mountain bike area for the kids and fun and music everywhere, when suddenly I started to hear wild ass jungle rhythms. I walked over to the Children’s Southeast drum circle to see where the jungle drumming was coming from and low and behold Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready was laying down some crazy Gene Krupa Jungle Boy drumming.
Start this video, scroll down...
pause, enjoy.
So I watched the kids give Ray’s Mountain Bikes course a good work out, and took a short break to get ready for “Taste of Lakewood” this time at Madison Park. In the past the Taste of Lakewood was held at The Clifton Club, and it always seemed kind of a stodgy affair, to be honest. Perhaps it was the grandeur of the Clifton Club, with the old carpets and drapes. Like some Southern Plantation home before the Civil War type feel to it, you know, it makes it fun to walk through but kind of strange spending any time there. You would pay a flat fee and be given as many tastes as you wanted. The entire event benefits the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce and has been one of their major fundraisers in the past, drawing sometimes as many as 300 people. No one had any idea what this one would be like, 400 people? 500? A blank slate on this event.
I got there about 1pm to work the Lakewood Observer booth, where we were handing out papers, postcards, and conversation, for that is what we do. It was open, and everyone was talking and checking out the other food, and smiling, and joking around. It had nearly the same feel as the Lakewood Community Festival in Madison Park at the end of summer. A nice quiet day at Madison Park to enjoy some ethnic food, take a break, sit and try some more. The Community Festival is just a wonderful event. I found it slightly amusing that the first booth I came to was Bob Evans, not just the newest restaurant in Lakewood, but also the featured restaurant in an upcoming story, “The Devil Comes To Lakewood.” Their tent, like their establishments, was clean and manned by friendly courteous workers, two qualities which have been the hallmark of the franchise from restaurant 1 in Gallipolis Ohio, to its 571st in Lakewood, Ohio. Well that’s interesting.
Table mates for the event was Virginia Marti, Lakewood's first college!
I walked over to our table, and was already appreciating the shade of the tent, found the owner of the Observer at the table, with a nice set-up featuring, papers, postcards, other give-aways and mints. But of course, Deb O’Bryan is always prepared, and she thought, why not offer something that booth cleanses the palate between tastes of Lakewood, and offers couples something for their breath for when they are sitting next to each other in the shade, falling back in love, thinking just how wonderful Madison Park is, and thinking this place would be great if it was open even later than it is now. From the stars in the sky at night on a summer’s evening to making snow angels on a winter's eve would be magical. Ohhh, I digress. We were ready for the possible 800 people expected to show up and casually walk around while tasting Lakewood.
The 800lb gorilla at the event, and some say the igniter of Lakewood's foodie following
Matt Fish from Melt acts like he is working!
I grabbed the camera and made a quick lap of the park, checking out my favorite spots, India Garden, KB Confections, The Root, Barrio, Cerinos, Melt, Jammy Buggars, Pepper’s, TJ Butcher Block and the rest. It was great, only a couple people in line. Grab some food, talk with owners, ask what they expected. Kevin at TJ Butcher Block said, “It looks nice, we are hoping for the estimated 800 people, we are ready for more but that would be great. Did I tell you about my trip to…” Light-hearted conversations with friends. Everyone ready, and the two sure winners to me out of the box were The Root with iced tea, and The Sweet Spot with cool delicious gelato, temperatures hitting 82, yeah that is the business to have here. We shall see, hmm 1:30 kind of slow, maybe everyone still at the Beck. I go back to the table to see if Deb wants anything.
KB Confections, ready to go.
Jim Sprenger, owner of Jammy Buggar's, one of Lakewood's favorite spots just outside of Downtown, smiles, as suddenly sales and the lines pick up.
Kevin Mac, "Yah I'm ready, what do you think 800?"
As I head back I have a chance to talk with Eddie Cerino(Cerino’s Italian), Matt Fish(Melt), Julie Hutchison(The Root Cafe), Jim Sprenger (Jammy Buggar’s), Sonee (India Garden) some of the stars of Lakewood’s food renaissance, all were happy and ready for people to come. The generally feeling, 800 would be great, maybe a thousand is possible. The Lakewood High Jazz Band came to the stage, and I was ready for a second lap.
Thomas Mulready recording his son Max, and the Lakewood High School Jazz Band. Please
notice the slight tilt, aka the Danish Dangle, which is the hallmark of Cool Cleveland.
I have always thought that for local food, instead of truckers, you follow firemen to find the good food. Sure enough, Fire Inspector Tim Dunphy heads not just to Cerino's Casual Italian Dining, but straight to Eddie himself!
The crowds kept building!
I walked onto one of the midways, and lines of 3-5 had formed, and people were walking across the fields like hippies on the way to Woodstock. Seriously it was as if someone had found a Frito shaped like a cross with the image of Jesus burned into it. Very quickly the lines went from 3, to 5, to 10, to impossible to count. One of the longest lines all day was Barrio, at one point I counted 30 people waiting for a Barrio taco with that ohhh so perfect Mango Habenero sauce. You actually could have gotten a Barrio taco faster, driving to Barrio, sitting down and ordering. Not that they were slow, but this was nuts. Think of the movie "The Birds," and Tippi Hedron trying to get the kids past the crows safely, and the crows just kept coming, and coming, and coming and each one looking for something to peck at, something to devour, again and again and again. It was just like that, but casually dressed people, paying for delicious Lakewood food while walking around one of Lakewood's best parks-- that does close too early-- having a great time. Just like "The Birds."
The VIP Lounge filled quickly. Here my good buddy Mawali from Tease Hair Salon enjoys the affair with wife, friends, and co-workers.
LO's Editor In Chief, Margaret Brinich arrives with her husband Troy Bratz, carrying what was judged to be the second best gourmet guacamole in the land. Well, in the contest.
Barrio was popular, here is a typical line after 3pm of 30 people.
It seriously got to a place where pictures do not do it justice. Well not yet; LO's Craig
Lovejoy got some amazing "Low Level Aerial Photography" I'm sure. Stay tuned.
I have to be honest, I gave up trying to get meaningful photos as the place was packed with people in lines with the elbows flying of those with food eating it while getting in line. Now Lakewood has been a popular place for some time, scoring high for decades in fun, education, but this food thing is growing, I am sure we have surpassed the 238 places in 5 square miles to get prepared food of last year. But his was amazing. Thousands and thousands of people eating, laughing, dancing, having a great time. Blocks from the park as I walked along I could hear people saying to paraphrase, “That was great, Lakewood has it happening, what a great time, why do they close that park early?”
Player's was one of the first to run out of food both there and back at the restaurant.
And in the end it was a lot like Woodstock, Kevin Mac, the owner of TJ Butcher Block, went back to the store 4 times, and at 5 was saying, “This is crazy I have emptied the shelves in the store.” Sonee at India Garden had made 6 trips back and forth to bring more food. Mickey and Ryan at Around the Corner, were constantly jumping back and forth from ATC to there, just trying to keep up with the demands. By 5 pm, two hours before the scheduled end of the event, some restaurants were packing up, completely overwhelmed and bought out. Seriously I think some of these places judging by the response could have been selling ketchup packs, it wouldn’t have mattered. People would have walked away sucking on ketchup packs bragging, “Yeah I got this at India Garden” while their friends emptied salt on their hands and licked it off as if doing tequila shots, saying, “Yeah well this salt pack is from Jammy Buggars so there.” People showing others Coke cans saying, “Yeah this can of Coke came from India Garden.” It was that crazy, I am not kidding.
They finally got the best of Kevin, and he shut down sending people to Melt.
Even India Garden that offers a great buffet everyday for lunch looked a little frazzled.
Even dedicated festival workers like Julie Hutchison and Brandon Gregg from the Root Cafe
were looking a little shell-shocked and slap-happy when asked, "Was it good for you?"
By the close at 7pm the vendors, the volunteers, the police, and the organizers looked like Championship winning fighters, beat, tired, sweaty, with big-ass grins on their faces. For they had been there, they witnessed it, they worked it, they succeeded and beat it, Taste of Lakewood will never be the same, but unlike Woodstock it will be back next year, and they will be prepared as the City of Lakewood has another MAJOR POSITIVE EVENT, and they found another way to have fun, and enjoy a very under-utilized great park in the city of Lakewood.
Val Mechenbier, Chamber Director of Marketing & Public Relations and Patty Ryan, CEO & President take a short break in a very busy day! Good work, thank you.
To Val Mechenbier, and Patty Ryan from the Chamber of Commerce, just amazing. Far bigger then ever envisioned, but you, your volunteers, Lakewood police, fire and city services, and the wonderful vendors made it all work out just like it was planned. Congratulations to all, especially the City of Lakewood which can use some good PR after last week.