Taste of Hudson -- Hudson, OH

The Taste of Hudson takes place Labor Day weekend every year on Sunday and Monday. This was the 11th annual Taste of Hudson event and my second time attending. Last year I attended on Sunday evening, this year we attended on Monday in the early afternoon.

Parking is a little dicey, we found street parking a few blocks away and walked over to the event. We found several spots closer to First and Main, but there was always one car in front of us who was able to snatch the parking spot.

The Taste of Hudson is unique, because it uses reloadable charge cards for food purchases. There are two tents where you can purchase the charge cards, using cash, credit or debit, and you can put any amount that you want on the charge card. I started with $30 and then added an additional $1 right before we left (more on my $1 addition later.) 

Participating Restaurants:
-3 Palms Pizzeria and Bakery
-Adam's Reserve New York Cheddar/Great Lakes Cheese
-Aladdin's Eatery
-Caffe Gasperi
-Cilantro Thai and Sushi Resturant
-Don Patron's
-Donato's Pizza
-Downtown 140
-Flip Side
-Rotary Club of Hudson's Clocktower
-Hudson's Restaurant
-Jaipur Junction
-Nosh Eatery & Creative Catering**
-One Red Door
-Otani Japanese Restaurant & Habachi
-Peachtree Southern Kitchen & Cocktails
-Rosewood Grill**
-Tomato Grill
-Wine Bar at Solaire

Working with a budget of $31 and the fact that Dave and I are both vegetarians we visited the restaurants which are bolded and italicized in the above list. The restaurants marked with ** were our favorites of the day.

Many of these are places we've never tried before, we have been to 3 Palms Pizzeria and Bakery and I did a review there as well. We've also been to Aladdin's Eatery, Cilantro Thai and Sushi Restaurant and Jaipur Junction, but I've not completed full reviews for those restaurants.

Another advantage to Hudson is the area in which the food tents are set up. Each tent has sufficient space for a long line, because it is not located directly across from another tent. Most of the vendors had multiple lines, which made waiting in line tolerable.

Our first stop was the Rosewood Grill, we tried their Strawberry Shortcake which had Grand Marnier Strawberries and Tangerine Whipped Cream. 

   
I love that the Strawberry Shortcake came in a cup, it made eating and walking so much easier. Rosewood Grill also included a sticker with a list of ingredients on the cup, which is beneficial for people who need to know the ingredients for various reasons.

This was my favorite sample of the day, I thought the tangerine whipped cream was a nice touch to strawberry shortcake, especially since the strawberries were soaked in Grand Marnier. I appreciated that the sample was easy to eat and that it was super pretty (I give bonus points for presentation).

Our next stop was Otani Japanese Restaurant and Hibachi. Although they offered a vegetarian hand-roll, we decided on Watermelon Bubble Tea since Dave recently discovered his love for Bubble Tea during the Cleveland Night Market.  

  

To go with our Watermelon Bubble Tea we visited Flip Side for their Sweet Potato Fries with Horseradish Mustard Sauce. Flip Side was also offering Milkshakes, but we wanted to ensure plenty of room for food. 

  

Next we went to One Red Door for their Plain Mac N Cheese, if you're a meat lover, they also served it with beef brisket. 

Next we went to Aladdin's Eatery for an order of Hummus and Pita.  

   

Then we decided on the Urb Agro Farms Heirloom Tomato Sandwich from Nosh Eatery & Catering. This sandwich had all of the ingredients listed out on their display -- Organic Heirloom Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Organic Basil Pesto, Aioli, Cherry Balsamic Reduction, Cold Pressed Olive Oil and Foccacia.

This was Dave's favorite sample of the day. The sandwich was bright and colorful and although it had many elements, it was refreshingly simple at the same time. Each element added it's own distinct flair to the dish, while creating a harmonized sandwich. 

 All of those purchases left us with $2 on our card and we really wanted a smoothie...which were being sold at Caffe Gasperi for $3, so that's how we ended up with the $31 budget. Rather than waste $2, we just added another $1 to empty out our card.

Tropical Smoothie from Caffe Gasperi.

  

Aside from the craziness that was trying to find street parking, which is to be expected at any event like this, we had no other issues at the Taste of Hudson. All of the vendors were friendly, it was easy to get the Taste of Hudson card and to reload money onto it. There were police officers available to help guide traffic around the event and to facilitate pedestrians safely crossing the street. We'll be back next year!

My review for the Taste of Hudson: