Niagara Gazette
THE DISH: Sampling the "Taste of Lockport"
Biz organization turns to professional planner to help create this year's event
August 2, 2007
By Michele Deluca/delucam@gnnewspaper.com
Those
of us curious about new foods and new flavors love the increasingly popular
"tastes," events that help us sample the best offerings of restaurants in our
communities. That's why, when planning an interview with the event planner who is running the upcoming Taste of Lockport, I opted to meet her at one of the restaurants that will be featured at the Aug. 19 event, One Eyed Jacks BBQ Restaurant on South Transit Road in Lockport.
This was a win-win situation for me as I learned two pieces of important news to food lovers in the Niagara region, and I got to have lunch at one of my favorite barbecue restaurants.
The first piece of news is that One Eyed Jack's tied for first place among barbecue restaurants in a recent "Best of" poll by readers of Buffalo's Spree Magazine. Apparently, readers favored the brisket, and I was curious to see why, so I ordered it on a combo plate with the pulled pork.
The second piece of news is that my lunch guest is a professional event planner brought in for the first time by the Lockport Business Association to enhance the sixth annual event, because the day-long event was becoming too big of a job for volunteer business people.
I'll get to our lunch details in a moment, but first, you should meet Jeannie Wolf of Event Elements, a self-described Southern girl and Army brat who lived for a time in Mississippi and eventually made her way to Western New York, where she graduated from the University at Buffalo. Jeannie's resume boasts some impressive names, as she served as an event planner for the Culinary Institute of America outside of New York City, prepared the The Wake fundraiser for the Irish Classical Theatre in Buffalo, and was the planner for Boom Days, a new Buffalo event to celebrate the raising of the ice boom in the Niagara River.
Jeannie describes event planning as "putting puzzle pieces together," with the best part being "when you're at the event you sit back and enjoy something you've put together."
With any luck, the one-day event which usually attracts 5,000 people to Ida Fritz Park at Main and Transit, will be even more successful with a professional at the helm. And she is a professional, certified after taking an exam which tested her wits on matters of room sizes verses crowd size, down to matters of safety.
This woman knows that the success of any big event is all about food, and this event is all that and more.
Now let's talk about our lunch at One Eyed Jacks.
One Eyed Jacks' prize-winning brisket lived up to its name on my combo platter, with thin slices of beef and traces of barbecue seasoning that allows the tender beef to provide the savory flavor. It's reminiscent of everybody's mother's best Sunday roast, and so tender you can cut it with a fork.
The pulled pork, which Jacks will feature at the Taste, was outstanding, with a rich barbecue flavor, not overloaded with sauce, and long cooked as well for the utmost in tenderness.
Jeannie had the pork ribs, which she declared to be "delicious," and we both adored the special side dish of the day, a "cornbake," comprised of corn kernels, cornmeal and eggs, which was a sort of corny bread pudding that could have been a meal in itself.
All said, a satisfying meal and conversation.
For those of you who want to try some of the pulled pork, the "Taste" is the place.