By Bill Parry
The borough’s premiere annual food and networking event is coming to Corona this year.
Queens Taste 2015 will feature more than 60 tables, including those of 15 first-time restaurants, at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12.
The festival for foodies, held for several years at Citi Field, took place at the Sheraton LaGuardia East last year and drew more than 800 people. The Queens Economic Development Corporation needed a larger venue with greater accessibility.
“Sheraton Flushing did a great job, but the event has gotten too big,” Rob MacKay, the QEDC’s director of marketing, said. “The New York Hall of Science just had a renovation and it’s such an awesome spot. It’s big enough with electricity for every table. Plus, they have their own parking lot and it’s less than four blocks from the No. 7 subway line. It’s the perfect place for us.”
MacKay added that the reasons to attend are as “diverse as the borough” with everything from sweet to savory, from Mexican to Malaysian. For example, La Fusta in Elmhurst is planning to bring beefy Argentine cuisine, while Jamaica’s O Lavrador will serve up Portuguese paella. Pa-Nash in Rosedale will dish out West Indian/Moroccan fusion, while Long Island City’s Casa Enrico will serve up Chiapas-style Mexican food that earned it a Michelin star last spring.
Another Michelin-rated restaurant in LIC, M. Wells, will provide a surprise. In addition, clients from the Entrepreneur Space, a food-and-business incubator that QEDC operates, will be on hand with their artisan specialties, such as gluten-free products and ethnic desserts.
For drinks, LIC’s Square Wines & Spirits headlines a beverage group that includes Astoria-based SingleCut Beersmiths and Queens Courage gin.
A jazz group called Sabor and the Afro-Latiners will provide musical entertainment while clowns from the Big Apple Circus will do magic tricks while handing our free red noses. MMR Management Group will demonstrate new “4D” technology called “Augmented Reality” as well.
In addition to the different cuisines of the borough, Queens Taste 2015 will provide plenty of opportunities for networking. Of the nearly 1,000 expected to attend, most of them either live or do business in Queens, making the event the perfect place to exchange business cards and talk shop in a friendly atmosphere.
“Because of the food, drinks, desserts, people, venue and tremendous energy, I look forward to Queens Taste all year,” QEDC Executive Director Seth Bornstein said. “It’s so much fun on so many different levels.”
Tickets cost $125 or two for $200 with proceeds supporting QEDC’s ongoing efforts to attract and maintain jobs in the borough through business services, neighborhood development, the E-Space, and marketing attractions through the Queens Tourism Council and the It’s In Queens brand. As QEDC is a non-profit, a percentage of the ticket price is tax detuctible as permitted by law.
Tickets are available via the Internet at itsin
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
