I wasn’t sure if  we were going to make it to Taste of the Arts this year, even though it’s one of my favorite events of the summer. Thankfully, we got a break in the action long enough to hop on our bikes and head downtown. For more information about Taste of the Arts, read my guest post for Visit Fort Wayne. There I talk about all of the attractions the event has to offer. But here, I want to focus on the food, of course.

After parking our bikes at Fort Wayne Trails’ bike valet, Jon and I did a lap around the food tents to scope out the fare. The following is our food adventure:

First, Mahi Tacos and Pulled Cuban Pork from Crackerjack Catering. The tacos were tasty and extra spicy, which we love. The combination of spicy and sweet paired nicely. The Cuban Pork was excellent, packed with flavor and extremely tender… seasoned just right! Simply perfect!

Up next, a Filet Mignon with bleu cheese and bordelaise sauce from Baker Street. Though I like my filet a little rarer, I understand how unreasonable that request is at an event like this. The chef manning the grill was cranking these out as fast as he could. I may have opted to enjoy this without the bordelaise sauce, but overall, a very tasty snack.

It’s no secret that I am not a huge fan of Don Hall’s restaurants, but I was drawn to the Thai Chicken Tacos served at the Gas House tent. With a slight hint of sesame oil and just the right amount of cilantro, these nachos, served with Wanton Chips, were out of this world. I especially like the Wanton Chips, which were crispy and light. Sadly, these don’t appear on the restaurant’s regular menu.

Halfway is a good time for dessert, right? That’s what we thought. We haven’t been to Chrome Plated Diner yet, but if its food is as good as this Banana Cream Pie, we won’t be disappointed. Simple, yet oh-so-yummy! A light pie crust, topped with banana cream, whip cream, and chocolate chunks.

Oddly enough, the chefs from Harbour Assisted Living were on hand at this year’s event serving up pork tacos with 3 different kinds of salsa: mango, roasted red pepper, and salsa verde. We opted for the salsa verde because they said it was the spiciest, and though it didn’t bring the heat we were expecting, it had a nice flavor. The pork, though a little on the bland side, was not bad. This taco was definitely the best value at the event, just 1 ticket ($1), while everything else was between 2 and 5 tickets.

Vanilla Bean, known for its cupcakes, certainly knows how to do cookies right, too! The Margarita Sandwich Cookie may be the best cookie I’ve ever eaten- salty and sweet, crunchy and creamy- it has all the right flavor and texture combinations. The Chocolate Chilean cookie was good. I love combining odd flavors- chocolate with chili powder is an interesting one- but I shouldn’t have eaten it after the Margarita Sandwich. It paled in comparison.

I think this was the healthiest dish we tried all day. Chef Dyeaka Wilson is just starting her personal chef business and she’s dedicated to teaching people how to enjoy healthy food. I definitely enjoyed her beef lettuce wrap and look forward to seeing her business grow. Check it out at www.iluvtoeat.org.

And that just about did it for us. It was hot, we were full, and we still had to ride our bikes back home. Well done Taste! We had a great time… and so did our bellies! Until next year!