Restaurants ready for 14th Annual Taste of Bigfork

By Jacob Doran / Bigfork Eagle

With 22 local establishments participating in Bigfork's 14th annual taste extravaganza, this year's Taste of Bigfork promises to deliver enough food, wine and musical entertainment to leave connoisseurs reveling in a memorable tapestry of aftertastes for days.

The Bigfork Chamber of Commerce is set to host what has become one of its biggest and most popular events in Bigfork on Sunday, April 27, from 2-6 p.m., showcasing entrees, hors d'oeuvres, wines and deserts from some of Bigfork's most notable dining destinations.

"Its a great way to raise the money we need to keep the Chamber going and just have a lot of fun while we do it," said Taste chairperson Gretchen Gates, owner of Eva Gates Homemade Preserves. "Since it's one of our biggest fundraisers, it helps us out a lot."

The combination of food, drink and deserts is certainly a proven formula for drawing crowds, and has made the Taste a successful fundraiser for Bigfork's business community, bringing in $14,000 thousand last year in just four hours. That money gets split three ways, with part of the money going to the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce, part to the Flathead Habitat for Humanity and $1,000 to another charity.

The second charity that benefits from the Taste changes from year to year. This year, the money will be used to renovate the lobby of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts.

Fourteen years ago, when the Taste was first conceived by Laura Bennett, proceeds went entirely toward funding the Flathead Habitat for Humanity, as it did for a number of years thereafter. However, Bennett eventually turned the fundraiser over the Chamber of Commerce.

"Habitat for Humanity is still a big part of it," Gates said. "We couldn't do it without them. Habitat supplies the volunteers and does a lot to promote the Taste. Without Habitat and the volunteers it would be really tough."

Gates volunteered to chair the fundraiser, when the Taste became a Chamber-sponsored event. Not surprisingly, she found the event to be rewarding in many ways and has continued to chair the Taste of Bigfork every year since. In fact, while Eva Gates is not considered a restaurant, the store's porch has become a permanent home for Mountain Lake Lodge to serve patrons each year during the Taste.

With restaurants like La Provence, Moroldo's Ristorante Italiano, Showthyme!, Sushi Now, Los Caporales, El Topo, The Apple Trolley, Culinary Design Studio and Terra Restaurant at Mountain Lake Lodge—not to mention the 12 other restaurants who signed on for the Taste—Gates said she is confident that the $40 cost for an afternoon of food, beverages and music is money well spent, with plenty to delight the tastes of everyone who takes part.

That $40 buys a passport to each of the restaurants, where guests will find a new entree, hors d'oeuvre, appetizer or dessert and have that particular stop marked off of the passport as they make their way through the village. Beverages, including beer and wine, are provided courtesy of Fun Beverage Company.

"You get to eat and drink your way through Bigfork in four hours, which is hard to do," Gates said. "There's everything from soup to elk saute and from Thai beef salad in a cucumber cup to to ice cream. Bigfork has some of the best food in the Valley, and taking it all in makes for a really fun afternoon."

As an added bonus, everyone is invited to take part in a raffle that takes place at the Garden Bar & Grill at 5:30 p.m. Raffle tickets cost $5 each or five for $20 and ensure a chance to win one of between 75 and 100 items that have been donated for the event by area businesses and professionals, including everything from artwork to gift certificates for fun, dining and donated services.

The best part, Gates stressed, is knowing that every dollar goes to support the community of Bigfork and the entire Flathead Valley.