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Hundreds Sample 'Taste The Best Of New Port Richey'

Klint Lowry/SUNCOAST

It was the calm before the storm for chef Griff Lohrman of Catches Waterfront Grill before hundreds descended on his station to sample his crab cakes and seafood dip during the inaugural “Taste the Best of New Port Richey.” The Jan. 24 event fundraiser was a fundraiser for a candidate in the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce’s annual Governor of West Pasco contest.

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: January 27, 2009

Updated:

NEW PORT RICHEY - Some fundraisers are more successful than others. Cindy Ewald, however, came up with one the community could really sink its teeth into.

About 200 people threw their New Year's resolution-inspired diets to the wind Saturday at Boulevard Beef and Ale. They did some marathon noshing at a new event called "Taste the Best of New Port Richey." For $20, guests could partake of signature dishes from more than a dozen area restaurants.

Things got off to a light start with a dollop of Boulevard Beef and Ale's spinach and artichoke dip or black beans from Juan's Black Bean Cafe. People could then follow their appetites in any number of directions: pulled pork from Pit Boss Bar-B-Q; crab cakes from Catches Waterfront Grill; or authentic British fare from Piper's Cafe.

While satisfying their palates, guests could also take satisfaction their epicurean excess was contributing to two good causes.

Ewald, a member of the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce, put the event together as part of her bid to be elected "Honorary Governor of West Pasco." Every year, the chamber "elects" a member to the mock title based on which candidate raises the most money through community events.

The proceeds are divided between the chamber's building fund and the candidate's charity of choice.

Ewald chose the PACE Center for Girls, the statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of delinquency in young women 12 to 18. Ewald was happy to say half the profit from Saturday's taste fest would bypass bureaucratic channels and go directly to PACE's Pasco branch.

On Friday, long before the first chafing dish was presented or the first forkful of food served, Ewald was confident she had a hit on her hands. The level of enthusiasm and community spirit she encountered while putting the event together was more than she expected.

"I'm just overwhelmed by the support," Ewald said, "it's just been phenomenal."

This was particularly true when she put the call out to local eateries to see who might be interested in participating in a local taste fest. The venue only had space for 13 vendors: Fitzgerald's Irish Pub, Danny's Bar and Grill, Pit Boss Bar-B-Q, Fatty and Mabel's, Golden Tequila Mexican Restaurant, Grand Cafe, Boulevard Beef and Ale, Juan's Black Bean Cafe, Piper's Cafe, Arby's, Angelo's, Catches Waterfront Grill and the Seven Springs Country Club.

Ewald said she had to turn away about 20 others restaurants. Most of the restaurants that didn't make the lineup asked her to keep them in mind if she ever puts together another event like this, she said.

She was particularly grateful to Joe Norton, owner of Boulevard Beef and Ale, for offering his establishment to hold the event when her original location fell through.

"I've known Cindy for years," Norton said. "I try to do as much as I can for the community. When she came to me, I said 'no problem.'"

With the Saturday farmer's market put on the Greater New Port Richey Main Street downtown booster group going on adjacent to the restaurant's patio, there was a festival atmosphere, and the public ate it up.

At one table, Sandy and Tom Bumgarner of Trinity and Tom and Lee Ottaviani of New Port Richey had each discovered a new delicacy and were telling each other about them.

"It's got turkey, and cranberry, and I don't know what the white stuff is," Lee Ottaviani said as she described an appetizer from Fitzgerald's. Mystery ingredient notwithstanding, she highly recommended everyone at the table try one.

For those who missed out this time around, Ewald said she definitely wants to make "Taste the Best of New Port Richey" an annual fundraiser event for the PACE Center for Girls.

See more photos at http://snap.tbo.com/galleries/index.php?id=344078

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