Southside Village
Sarasota, Florida 34239

The Sarasota Wine and Food Festival is the must-attend wine event of the Sarasota social calendar.

Swaying palms, tropical breezes and illustrious store fronts set the scene for the Sarasota Wine and Food Festival on Saturday, January 23, 2010.

Local restaurants will showcase their finest cuisine along with select vintages from Premier Beverage Company giving event goers a chance to pleasure their palettes with perfect culinary and wine parings. Music will fill the air as everyone enjoys one of the most beautiful beach and city destinations in the world.

When: Saturday, January 23, 2010
5:30pm -7:00pm VIP
7:00pm -9:30pm Street Festival

Where: Southside Village
Hillview Street
Sarasota, FL 34239

Music by My Friend Scott
$85 VIP reception (ticket includes street festival)
$50 Street Festival

All proceeds benefit the American Lung Association of Florida.
Please save the date and make plans to come out and visit
Sarasota and her islands at the Sarasota Wine & Food Festi

Official Website: http://www.sarasotawineandfood.com

Added by ALA Gulfcoast FL on October 16, 2009

Comments

SarasotaWine

To call yourself the "Sarasota Wine and Food Festival" is diminishing and devalueing the name of Sarasota, and the other truely fine Wine and Food Festivals here in our remarkable city. The American Lung Association is a fine cause. However, this is nothing more than an event to promote Hillview Street restaurants and a few others they wrangled in. Although restaurants like the Broken Egg, and the local franchisee of The Melting Pot, and a great bar/restaurant like The Old Salty Dog are excellent for their type of food and service, I would hardly like any visitor to walk away thinking this is what Sarasota has to offer.
We have a few very fine, and respected Sarasota Wine and Food Events like the upcoming "Forks and Corks", "Florida Winefest", and "The Lakewood Ranch Wine Festival". These evemts showcase the fine independently owned restaurants citywide, together with wines from not only across the Nation, but from around the world. They are held in fabulous Sarasota settings like the Ringling Museum, The Polo Grounds, and The Ritz.
I want all of these locally owned restaurants to succeed, but not at the cost of confusing and deceiving the consumer, who are the residents and visitors of Sarasota.
Call it what it truely is: something along the lines of the "Hillview Association of Restaurants Food and Wine Festival benefiting the American Lung Association." Otherwise,in your attempt to promote your own entity and interests, you are merely demoting yourselves as cheap imitators, thus devaluing your own product.
Next year, I hope to see better truth in the naming of your event. Regardless, I only hope for the best during these difficult times.