By Gail Lambert
These are glory days for food lovers, what with cooking shows on TV 24/7, destination dining and celebrity chefs achieving rock star status; when the trendiest place in town is the farmers’ market on a Saturday morning.
Enter the first Taste of the Roanoke Valley Food Expo – a food show for farmers to show the public what’s available locally. White tents were set up on a grassy field surrounded by Blue Ridge Mountains at Greenfield Recreation Center in Botetourt County.
Sponsored primarily by
Farm Bureau Virginia,
Virginia Tech and
Virginia Cooperative Extension along with dozens of local groups and businesses, admission was just $2. My husband and I visited booths piled high with vegetables and dairy products; there were also lists of cuts of beef available from local cattle farms. Food samples were incredible: whole baked apples from the Fincastle 4-H Club, grilled London broil, sliced peaches, sweet corn, lamb stew and cheeses.
Live bluegrass bands and Master Gardeners added to the mix and a Chef Challenge starred chefs from
Local Roots Café in Roanoke,
Zeppoli’s Italian Restaurant in Blacksburg and
West End Market at Virginia Tech.
On leaving, we were asked if we would like to see a Food Expo next year. We had to laugh. Who wouldn’t want another Food Expo? Later, event sponsors called the Food Expo “a smashing success.” I believe that makes it official: expect great food in the Roanoke Valley and environs.