The 26th annual Taste of Ocala was a delicious and highly filling extravaganza! The event takes place every spring and raises money for student scholarships for the College of Central Florida. It’s always a blast!
I spent all day on Friday and Saturday helping with event set up (I’ve been on the planning committee for the past three years) and it was so great to see everything come together. After a quick dash home to shower and change on Saturday afternoon, Ryan and I drove back to the College of Central Florida to help again before the event began at 6:30 p.m.
Local restaurants had their stations ready to go about 30 minutes before doors opened so the judges could come through and taste everything and make notes about presentation, flavor and creativity before ticket holders made their way inside.
While the judges visited the restaurants inside, I headed out into the courtyard with Ryan to enjoy cocktail hour and mingle.
We lucked out with the weather on Saturday and enjoyed warm temperatures with a slight breeze. The intense heat hasn’t quite hit Florida yet, but it will be here soon!
During our planning committee meetings, once we realized that the University of Florida had a decent chance of making the Final Four, we worked with the IT department at CF to make sure we could have televisions broadcasting the Final Four games since there are a billion University of Florida fans in Ocala. People seemed to appreciate this added touch and gathered around the TVs periodically to check the score.
In addition to the games, once the doors opened, everyone enjoyed entertainment from a live band!
And then it was finally time to dig into all of the fabulous food!
Ryan and I immediately made a beeline for The Ivy House’s table. I’ve heard great things about this restaurant for more than a year now, but since I’ve never been, I couldn’t wait to sample their food.
The fried shrimp was wonderful – nice and light for a restaurant specializing in indulgent southern fare – and the sample cups of their famous peanut butter pie had my name written all over it.
I ate one and loved every bite and came back for another one at the end of the evening which pushed me over the edge into “Thanksgiving full” territory. But sometimes a little peanut butter pie is worth it, right!?
Ryan and I made sure to sample a little bit of everything. There was no shortage of sweet treats, fresh salads, indulgent sides and flavorful entree samples.
These lobster rolls (featured below) from The Braised Onion were one of my favorite dishes. The tequila lime butter sauce and guacamole on the side took the crispy roll to another level. So good!
The kale salad from Latinos y Mas was another standout. After so many plates of buttery risotto and stick-to-your-ribs food, a crisp green salad was more than welcome!
Though sampling some of the best food in Ocala is obviously a huge draw for the attendees of the Taste of Ocala, one of my favorite aspects of the event is the opportunity to chat with local restaurant owners and chefs.
Smallcakes Cupcakery is new to Ocala and Ryan and I had fun getting to know the owner and gushing over her fluffy cupcakes. The peanut butter cup cupcake was my favorite but the vanilla sprinkle cupcake was a close runner up. A fantastic classic!
As we ate, we chatted with friends and a few of my coworkers from the gym who also came to the event. I had a feeling I knew which restaurant was going to take home the coveted People’s Choice prize at the end of the night because whenever we asked anyone what their favorite dish was, the shrimp and grits from Eaton’s Beach seemed to be on the top of everyone’s mind.
It was wonderful and the house pastrami they also passed out to guests helped them claim the prize during their first year at the Taste of Ocala.
When I spoke with the owner, he said that he actually moved away from Tampa just to open the restaurant. He was so friendly and upbeat and I was thrilled for them when they won.
The event lasted until 10:30 p.m. and I had a wonderful time. Ryan and I left full and happy! It was definitely the highlight of our weekend!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
every year this event looks like so much fun when you blog about it! i’m not sure if st louis has anything like it – they have something called the taste of clayton (in st louis) but itz not a formal event – itz outside and pretty casual!
That dress you’re wearing is gorgeous, and I love the accessories!
As for this event, wow, it’s amazing to see just how many clearly delicious restaurants you have in your area. I’m not sure if my town has something like this, but it’s something I’d love to help organize.
The food all looked so delicious, but those colorful little macarons caught my eye 🙂
I’ve never been to one of these ‘taste of’ events but man, I can’t wait to one day- YUM!!
Love your dress and accessories!!!
So many food!!! Everything looks really yummy!! Did they have vegetarian or vegan options?
Peanut butter pie? Sign me up.
Looks like a great event! Great job, Julie!
Ha!! It was tasty! 🙂
All that food looks absolutely delicious! Yum!
Love your dress by the way!
Your dress is so cute!! Looks like a great night!
Thank you, Livi!
What a fun night and that food….whoa!! You guys look like such a classy couple!
Oh man, all of that food looks delicious!
Your dress is fabulous too!
UCONN made it to the final! Josh went there for undergrad so I’m really excited to cheer them on tonight over pizza and beers.
I’ve always wanted to go to a Taste of the Nation. Now that I live in Omaha I’m hoping they’ll have one. All the food at Taste of Ocala looks amazing!
A lot of my fam went there including my dad who played for them back in the day 😉 , excited to cheer them on!! WOOP WOOP : )
I wish we had an event like this where I live. I’d like to start one because there are so many amazing restaurants! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
What a fun event! The food looks great. Love your clutch purse by the way.
What a great event! I wish we had something like this! It looks like you did an awesome job planning it all! Great job – the food looks delicious!
Oh, and you need to teach me how to get my hair to look like yours! Your curls looks PERFECT – my hair never looks like that when I try!
Thank you! I wrap my hair around the outside of the curling iron going away from my face! It took some practice for sure!
What a fun event! I wished we had something like this in my area! I love the cupcake tower! 🙂
Looks like fun! You look gorgeous! Little Rock has a Taste of the Finest in the fall, and it benefits the Cystic Fibrosis foundation. My husband and I went last year and it was a blast getting all fancied up!
Y’all are adorable! Can you come do my hair for me? I really need to get better with my curling iron!!!
This looks like so much fun!! I know I would have had a hard time not eating all the sweet treats, those cupcakes would have definitely have been on my radar!!
Looks like such a fun event. I love these types of taster events. You get to try so many unique items. That peanut butter pie looks to die for!
Always love reading about this event on your blog! Once again, I wish I had been there, tasting everything right along with you. 🙂
I would love to go to an event like that! The peanut butter cupcake and pie would definitely would have ended up on my plate! Love you dress too!
LOVE your outfit!
Thank you!! <3
What a fun event – I love getting to taste things so this is something I’d love. And those shrimp and grits sound so good!
This looks so fun and yummy! I’d be all over that shrimp too! Mmmm!
Such a fun event! We have one like this where I live but it is super low key in the summer. I am loving your dress!
That pie looks damn good!!!! Definitely well worth it!
I love your dress! The food looks amazing too!
The food looks amazing. Too bad the Gators lost, I hope that didn’t dampen the mood of the attendees. Or maybe, they drown their sorrows in food and drink?
I LOVE sampling little bites of food like that, and learning about the backgrounds of the people who create it. Sounds like a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Can you do a hair tutorial!? How do you get those waves!? Gorgeous!
Yes!! It’s on my to do list!
So hungry after reading this post! Love that statement necklace, by the way.
All that food looks amazing, you guys did an awesome job organizing the event!
A live band! That would be so fun. Sounds like a great night!
Wow, everything looks so delicious! And you looked beautiful!
I love your outfit! That peanut butter pie looks incredible. I gave up all sweets for Lent and it’s been so tough this past month – I feel like everywhere I turn, I see amazing pictures of desserts! 🙂
Looks like the event went really well! What a great idea for a fundraiser, too — I’d love a fundraiser that gave me the opportunity to sample food from local restaurants!
oh my goodness, this is literally my idea of heaven! Looks like a great a time 🙂
sounds like a very fun and tasty event! sidenote: i love your dress and necklace – so cute! 🙂
How fun! I love your dress, too!
That looks like such a fun night! It was great you were able to get the TV out for people. I would have had a problem getting myself away from the peanut butter pie. Oh my!
Bad idea looking at this delicious post when I’m starting to get hungry, hah! Everything looks sooo amazing….drool. The lobster roll sounds really interesting, too. Love anything with seafood. 😀
This looks like such a great event!
Hi!
I love your hair. It’s so cute.
What do you do/use to style it like that?
Everything looks so delicious!
Ciabatta bun sandwiches AND cupcakes. Man, sign me up for when you go to these places! Ha ha… looks delicious. #AllIThinkAboutIsFeedingMyTummy
oh my that food all looks SO delicious! cute they had the final four on. As a UCONN alum I was watching it to and glad to see my alma mater take down FL 🙂
2 things I really liked in this post: 1. peanut butter pie… and 2. your dress! I love it!
So cool to be a part of the planning of all this and then get to be there as it all unfolds! Looks like a fun and delicious night!
What a fun event! Congrats on all your hard work 🙂
This seems like such a fun event! I would love to be able to try some of the best foods from my local restaurants all in one place.
it sounds like such a fun night! All the food looks soo good but I would have just eaten all the peanut butter pie! I wish I could curl my hair as good as you, I feel like I am a lost cause it never comes out how I want it to.
All of that food looks absolutely delicious! It sounds like a wonderful way to spend the evening 🙂