Want a taste of tradition this weekend? Amble on down to Bayfront Naples for one of the area’s longest running food festivals, the Taste of Collier. Building on more than three decades of sampling eats from area restaurants, the fun this Saturday, April 26, starts at 11 a.m. and goes until 4 p.m. and will include tasting stations from 30-plus eateries, an Iron Chef-meets-Chopped cooking competition pitting Chef Charles Mereday against Chef Brian Roland, and the perennially popular ice-carving demonstrations—as well as some new additions to whet your appetite. Food Truck Row, in its first year, will be a spot for Collier-based traveling kitchens like the Sizzle Truck to park during the festivities. Also making its debut is Cooking with the Chefs, a show tent where guests on a first-come, first-serve basis can see members of our local American Culinary Federation chapter whip up appetizers (11:30 a.m.), entrées (12:30 p.m.) and desserts (1:30 p.m.)—and, naturally, the lessons include tastes of their creations. Add in craft beers, live music and kid-approved bounce houses, and anyone can get a big bite of Saturday’s food-focused revelry.
