Taste of Melrose Park Sep 3rd-5th, 2010

The Village of Melrose Park will be hosting the 29th annual Taste of Melrose Park on September 3rd-5th. As always, a great selection of food with prices capped at $3. Adult beverages are available at the Taste and ran $4 last year, if I recall correctly. The nuns are already gearing up to make sfingi, and that is your sign to queue up.

Sept. 3rd, 2010: 5p.m. - 11:00 p.m
Sept. 4th, 2010: Noon – 11:00p.m.
Sept. 5th, 2010: Noon – 10:00p.m - Fireworks: 10:15p.m.


My thanks again to David and Ronnie, among others, for getting the word out on this event. I look forward to seeing you there.

Food vendors:

http://melrosepark.org/events/food_flyer.pdf

Entertainment:

http://melrosepark.org/events/Copy%20of%202010_Ent._Schedule.pdf

There's always room for fried bologna.

Hi,

I hope to finally go this year. Everyone who has ever gone has been very, very happy.

Regards,

ToMP remains one of my favorite neighborhood events, not just of the summer, but of the year.

d4v3 wrote:There's always room for fried bologna.

Instant signature.

The "filled while you wait" canolli at Cervone's is TDF!. Be sure to save room for some...

Hi,

I hope to attend this year. Which day has the lighter crowd? Friday?

Regards,

Cathy,

If you want to come during evening hours, Friday does seem the lightest day. Saturday is definitely the busiest. All of the stands are open by 12 on Saturday and Sunday, and the early hours hours are always very light crowds. If you are coming just for the food, and not for the entertainment, etc it is a good time to have no lines.

Hi,

I will aim for Friday, then I can go to Serb Fest on Saturday night.

Thanks for the feedback!

Regards,

I'm really looking forward to this year as well. Can't wait to get my bologna on! See you there.

David and I will be shooting video there today (prep, if it isn't raining) and tomorrow, so if you want to eat on camera, look for us.

I am in training right now for a Saturday eat-a-thon.

Throughout the day and into the night, the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo (and MikeG) are making the sfingi:

Cathy2 wrote:I will aim for Friday, then I can go to Serb Fest on Saturday night.

Perhaps I'll see you there after puss gets his shots.

I'm going for the first time tonight. Anything I need to know about parking or directions? Enter on 25th? Ample parking?

Parking is not ample; they pretty much use the entire village complex including its lots for the event. Last year we found some parking in a field about 1/2 mile south on 25th. You just have to see what you can find.

teatpuller wrote:I'm going for the first time tonight. Anything I need to know about parking or directions? Enter on 25th? Ample parking?

Much of 25th will be closed. Parking is mostly on side streets, usually on streets east of 25th (24th, 23rd, etc.). If you're headed west on Lake, I'd turn off north on one the lower 20's and just plan to walk a few blocks to the ToMP grounds.

Glad I asked! Thanks for the info.

If anyone is going and wants to hook up for some fried Bologna or something, MikeG and I will be there most of the afternoon and into early evening. You can call me on my cell: 708-902-3969.

25th and Division also has a shuttle to the entrance. Sign in posted on the southwest corner at the intersection. I concur with David's parking suggestion as well.

If, like me, you have never been and were wondering what the food looks like check this out:

http://chibbqking.blogspot.com/2010/08/ ... -park.html

I am really hungry now ...

Much as I'd like to, I think I'm going to stay home after all. It's freezing out there and the cat wore me out—he went positively feral at the vet! Good times. Somebody please post pictures. I'll save up this year's Taste money and eat twice as much next year to make up for it.

Jeez the weather was horrible, but we had a good time. Sfingi were amazing. Could be the best "doughnut" creation I've ever had... the best thing at the event.

Arancini were good but too filling...split one.

Lots of mediocre things (cold fried calamari), a couple of dreadful ones (stuffed mushrooms).

David Hammond wrote:If anyone is going and wants to hook up for some fried Bologna or something, MikeG and I will be there most of the afternoon and into early evening. You can call me on my cell: 708-902-3969.

I gave a ring around 6:30. Didn't leave a message as we were headed home.

Here's a short list for anyone going of things you should definitely try. Most are huge, best if you have someone to split them with. All are either $2 or $3.

Arancini
Panzerotti
Fried bologna sandwich
Melrose pepper sandwich
Italian meatball sandwich
Pane Panella (chickpea flour "panels" on bread with lemon, new this year)
Artichoke casserole
Cannoli (freshly filled as you order; Carolyn said "best cannoli I've ever had")
Italian lemonade

Mike G wrote:Here's a short list for anyone going of things you should definitely try. Most are huge, best if you have someone to split them with. All are either $2 or $3.

Arancini
Panzerotti
Fried bologna sandwich
Melrose pepper sandwich
Italian meatball sandwich
Pane Panella (chickpea flour "panels" on bread with lemon, new this year)
Artichoke casserole
Cannoli (freshly filled as you order; Carolyn said "best cannoli I've ever had")
Italian lemonade

What, no Sfingi?

stevez wrote:

Mike G wrote:Here's a short list for anyone going of things you should definitely try. Most are huge, best if you have someone to split them with. All are either $2 or $3.

Arancini
Panzerotti
Fried bologna sandwich
Melrose pepper sandwich
Italian meatball sandwich
Pane Panella (chickpea flour "panels" on bread with lemon, new this year)
Artichoke casserole
Cannoli (freshly filled as you order; Carolyn said "best cannoli I've ever had")
Italian lemonade

What, no Sfingi?

Maybe it's like after you see sausage made, you're really not in the mood for any. Seriously, just an oversight leaving out the sfingi, I'm guessing.

This is the first year I had the Melrose pepper sandwich and I thought it was really good: spicy sausage and sweet pepper with a slightly acidic tomato-based neckbone sauce, very tasty.

The Pane Panella is a surprisingly flavorful, super simple little sandwich of small, fried chickpea "panels" perked with lemon. The nice Sicilian man who made it (one of the Ianelli family of vendors, several of whom are at the ToMP), explained that it's probably a reflection of Arabic influence in Sicily.

David Hammond wrote:This is the first year I had the Melrose pepper sandwich and I thought it was really good: spicy sausage and sweet pepper with a slightly acidic sauce, very tasty.

That's always one of my favorite items. I'm glad to hear it's back again this year!

Actually, I hadn't eaten my sfingi yet when I posted! But I came home with a dozen. Yes, sfingi, absolutely.

I really liked the pane panella, partly because it's just so different, and demonstrates that the influence of the old country is still coming up with new items even as the food overall tends to be classic Italian-American. I don't know that I'd want to eat a huge one, but you should definitely try it out. One great thing, not to be ignored, about this fest, is that everything is so modestly priced (apart from beer, prices are capped at $3, and many things are $2) that you can experiment freely, unlike at many "Tastes."