April Hackett, co-owner of The Spoke, serves up delicious Italian meatballs Saturday at The Taste of Downtown in Carson City.
The Advocates to End Domestic Violence are hosting its annual Taste of Downtown event July 22, to benefit domestic violence victims.
The event features a host of local food vendors and restaurants, serving samples of their best cuisines for attendees to sample.
“That is one of the unique things about the Taste is that there is always something new,” said Lisa Lee, director of Advocates.
This year, about 40 different venues will be participating in the Taste, ranging from pizza to sushi to coffee.
“We encourage the restaurants to do something people want,” Lee said. “They need to do something that makes people want to remember them.”
The Taste will feature a range of new Carson City restaurants including The Union, Battle Born Social, Hacienda Market and Grill and Scoups.
“This is a nice way for people to know that (these new places) are there,” said Sexual Assault Response Advocate coordinator for Advocates to End Domestic Violence Traci Trenoweth.
In addition to new food, this year, Total Wine also will be attending and providing a wine tasting for a small fee. Attendees can get five 2-ounce samples of wine for $5.
“They were very excited to be a part of it, Total Wine happened upon us,” said Terri Farnworth. “We always talked about adding a wine tasting so it was perfect.”
Putting on this event isn’t an easy feat. The women start planning for the July event in January — creating the logistics of where everyone will go, what their logo for the year will be and finding participants.
“It is a challenge because every year we want it to be different,” Lee said. “The logo changes every year, we want to get different kinds of music and entertainment for our ticket buyers. We want to try and make everyone happy.”
To entertain, the Taste will feature six bands this year including the Soul Persuaders, Mo’z Motley Blues, Mike Smith Whiskey Heroes., Soul Kiss & Mark Castro Band.
“The thing is to make sure the energy is good,” Lee said.
For the event, Curry Street will be shut down from King to Spear streets. Bringing people to the newly renovated downtown is one of the great things about the Taste, Lee said.
“It is nice for people to come down and see because a lot of us don’t typically drive through downtown, we just go on our regular beaten path so most taste-goers haven’t even seen the new downtown yet,” Lee said. “We want to bring them down and see what their tax dollars paid for.”
The Taste of Downtown is the Advocates’ main fundraiser to gain money for the shelter for victims of domestic violence.
“This event keeps our doors open, it is a huge benefit for our clients,” Trenoweth said. “To see it come together and come alive, to see the people enjoy the evening with music and food and go to the shops and see the art that Carson City has to offer (is fantastic). There are people who know each other but don’t see each other expect for at the Taste. And the new downtown this year will give it a new atmosphere and excitement.”
“It is like Carson City’s summer party,” Lee added. “It is a lot of locals here that will likely come back to the restaurants we have.”
The money raised goes towards the shelter, supplementing funds that aren’t covered by grants.
The Taste will be July 22 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. with 2 bands continuing until 10 p.m. Tickets are $40 before and $45 the day of the event. They can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce, The Purple Avocado, and Classy Seconds or by visiting www.tasteofdowntown.com.