The Taste of Hudson

Despite the rain on this Sunday afternoon, David and I headed to The Taste of Hudson. 

We tend to be fans of these all day food events.  The local restaurants come out with a few items off their menu that they sample at prices ranging from $3-$6.  Last year we attended the Taste of Cleveland, which was not so exciting, but we did leave with a ton of freebies from all the vendors.  A few months ago we stoped by The Taste of Tremont.  We were able to sample things from several places in the area that I had been dying to try.  Lolita being the most exciting.  We had a goat cheese and rosemary mac and cheese which was fantastic.  Some of the other places we ate at were Edisons Pizza and Bac which I had been to a few weeks prior, but happy to return for samples.  Needless to say, that day was a success and it achieved the goal in making me want to return to Tremont.  Which is why I hope for it be the destination of our next Food Crawl.  Then last year we did the Taste of Hudson, we left very satisfied, so we were excited when we knew it would kick off again this year.

We came prepared with our umbrellas in hand and anticipating not standing in the lines like we did last year because of today's not so attractive weather.  We were wrong.  Suprisingly there were still crowds of people, and lines at several of the restaurant booths.  The one thing that I dislike about the Taste of Hudson and Cleveland compared to The Taste of Tremont, is that you have to buy a prepaid card to purchase your food.  So that was the first line we stood in, while we debated on how much we were planning on eating. 

We got our first meals at Nosh Eatery.  This was the longest line all day.  We had never heard of this place.  The menu of 4 options was modern, creative and better then some restaurants full menus. 

I had the pistachio crusted french toast made with brioche and toped with goat cheese mascarpone blueberries and black berries.  

This was unbelievable.  In most cases for me french toast is too heavy and too sweet.  This was the perfect amount of both for me.  It was sweet and light and cruchy because of the pistachio.  The mascarpone was an amazing complement to the meal instead of heavy syrup or boring whip cream.

David had corned beef brisket toped with vinegar soaked french fries, shaved carrots and a garlic aioli in between toasted bread.  I was so into enjoying my meal that I forgot to take a picture of his.  I am sad now though because this was his favorite meal and compared it to everything else.

At the end of the day, we stoped back to Nosh and I had the peach and raspberry cobbler with sea salt ice cream.

Again I was please at how amazing the food was.  The ice cream was thin and sweet, the cobbler was fresh and full of layers of flavor.  The bread was toasted and had a crunchy outter crust.

After looking into the restaurants website, I found that this must be a new place.  The website says, Coming Soon and that the website is under construction.  I was disapointed to see I could not look up a menu but looking forward to the opening because I will be there with an appetite.

Next we went to Hudson's Restaurant and I was left hungry since there was nothing on the menu that I could eat there.  David kept with his brisket trend and had a beef brisket topped with a cliantro coleslaw.

 

Next we went to One Red Door, which we enjoyed so much last year we returned to have a lovely dinner here a few weeks ago, which I have yet to post, so stay tuned!

David yet again had brisket.  He really acts deprived when we are in public since he does not get to eat meat for dinner at home as much anymore.  I understand and encourage it though.

This was a BBQ brisket topping their rosemary mac and cheese.

This item was not on the menu when we had dinner at the restaurant, however the mac and cheese was an appetizer.  It was very similar to the rosemary and goat cheese mac from Lolita.  It was very yummy.  David enjoyed this one more because of the less gritty texture this one had compared to the latter.

Lastly, we stoped by D'Agnese's Restaurant.  We stoped at this booth last year, and oddly enough this restaurant opened up closer to our house earlier this year.  We ate there once last year and did not feel like we needed to return.  We felt as if it were an overpriced Olive Garden.  The small portion for the price I can do though.  

I had the fried artichokes in a light butter sauce.

So absolutely fantastic.  This could possibly be one of my favorite fried foods.  I love the flaky outter crust and the sweet like layered bite of the artichoke.  David had a basic penne and sauce.  Yummy, but again, if we are going to do a penne pasta and sauce we will go to Olive Garden and pay a lot less.

Because of the rain, we took cover in the Caribou Coffee.  Yes, I said Caribou not Starbucks.  Standing in line I could barely believe it myself.

We sat in some very comfy leather seats near a fireplace.  The wood ceiling boards, the ceremic mugs that were available (that to my knowledge Starbucks does not offer) and the friendly staff made for an above par atmosphere.  The coffee still after all the right peices did not win me over.  

David had the Turtle Latte, which he was thrilled with because of all the candy peices that topped his steamed milk and whipped cream.   

I had the drink of the month the Honey Almond Latte.  It was ok, but it tasted more like a tea drink then a latte.

Even though I felt like I was betraying all my Starbucks baristas, we relaxed, we stayed dry, sipped our hot drinks while people watching and listening to the rain hit the windows and tents outside and found ourselfs satisfied after a filling day.