Food for Good

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Tiffany and Jeff Rodgers have always had a passion for cooking and making food. That led them to open Angry Garlic in their home of Baldwinsville, where they have lived for the past 11 years. Being that they love good food and love supporting great kitchens, the Rodgers decided to take part in the revival of a new event.

“We kept seeing the amount of vendors participating go down and down and down,” Jeff said. “So we wanted to kind of change that, bring it back and have a lot of local participation.”

To support their chefs, the Rodgers, along with nine other restaurants in the area and the Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce, have revived the Taste of Baldwinsville festival. The event not only gives local food vendors publicity, it also is important to building community bonds, and helping the less fortunate within the community.

Of course, the food is important. MaryAnne Williams, Executive of the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce, has been working hard with the Rodgers and Angry Garlic, along with the owners of the Fireside Inn, Lil Twisted, Lock 1 Distilling, Pizza Man Pub, Sammy Malone’s, Tassone’s Wine Garden, The Chef & the Cook, the Wood, and WT Brews. That’s a lot of restaurants, and Williams has given the highest support to every one of them.

“I’ve eaten at them all and they all are good and they’re all are good,” Williams said. “They all offer something a little bit different from each other.”

Certainly, good food is essential to this festival, along with several bands – including the Baldwinsville pep band – performing to liven up the event at the most likely packed Bud Light Amphitheater on Paper Mill Island. That being said, the most important aspect of the even comes from community building.

“I think it’s going to bring not only Baldwinsville but other communities to come and see how wonderful Baldwinsville is,” Tiffany said about the possibility of the chances of building the greater Baldwinsville community.

Growing the community is important, but there’s one group that can benefit from this event the most. PEACE Inc., a nonprofit in Baldwinsville, is receiving some of the proceeds from the event. The money raised can help people in need not only by food, but clothing and gasoline to go to work. For the workers at PEACE, every dollar counts towards feeding a person in need.

“Those kinds of donations are what we really rely on the community for because they’re so specific to help an individual need for a family,” Michelle Kasprzak, a coordinator at PEACE, said about the donations.

Taste of B’ville is free for all attendants. You can sample food from each restaurant for $1 and you can buy a full meal for more.

http://baldwinsvillechamber.com/taste/

https://www.peace-caa.org