Taste Of The NFL

This is one of my favorite events of the year! Now, I’m not a huge football fan, but I am a huge Cincinnati chef fan – the secret it out!
This is the Freestore Foodbank’s biggest charity event of the year and it is seriously a sight to see. From the food, to the silent auction items, it’s high class all the way, which is why the tickets are $ 150 pops a piece. But honestly it is totally worth it. It’s open bar all night. And nice stuff too, they had a champagne bar, a ketel one booze luge, two full bars, and even bulleit bourbon was there.
Now onto the food! Every year is different but I always look forward to the regulars; Jeff Ruby’s, David Faulk’s restos, and Jean Robert. They consistently provide excellent dishes. This year Ruby’s had a ravioli with a lemon zest and mushroom sauce and I almost died, we must have went back to the table three times!
Someone that surprised me this year was Jag’s they had a full carving station where they were cookin up steaks and serving them atop garlic mashed potatoes. The steak was cooked perfectly and was pipping hot. It was delish!
I’m already salivating, and cant wait to go back next year. A great cause, and a great event to showcase all of the wonderful culinary talent in our city.

No, no, no… it’s not cannibalism of football players. Taste of the NFL is an annual event that takes place in hometown football stadiums across the country as a fundraiser for homelessness and hunger. The Cincinnati Bengals’ Taste benefits one of my favorite charities: Freestore Foodbank.
The event features 45 of the city’s finest chefs and restaurants serving one or two delectable samples at each booth. The entire Bengals team and Ben-​Gal Cheerleaders are in attendance at the event for guests to snap photos with and get autographs. There is also a gigantic silent auction, a live auction of event packages going for $ 2,000+, and of course, an open bar.
There was more than enough food samples here to fill me up. Everything looked incredible; I wish I had room for more!
Some of my favorites included:
— Burnell’s Restaurant: White bean hummus, shamander mutabal, and crispy flat bread.
— Cincinnati Cooks! Catering: Cubano chicken, greens, bacon with fried cornbread. Spicy chicken cutlet on a sweet Hawaiian bun with paprika sauce. Key lime pie.
— Sugar Cupcakery: Sweet corn cupcake with raspberry frosting.
— Second Course: Seared shrimp & steak with lemon, cilantro and garlic. Gazpacho shots.
— J. P. Chocolatier: Chocolate bacon truffle.
— La Petite Pierre: Lobster ravioli with a saffron tomato sauce.
— Aramark: Roasted garlic Dijon lamb with orange pepper risotto.
— Jean Robert’s Table: Spicy chicken confit salad with Mediterranean couscous.
— Eat Well: Devils food whoopie pie.
Pretty much everything was delicious. The only thing I didn’t like was the martini from SkinnyGirl. The drink tasted watered down because they put ice in the mix to keep it cool. Bartending Basics 101: NEVER put ice in a martini!
Price per person: $ 150.00
(Keep in mind, this is a fundraising event for charity. Every $ 150.00 provides 600 meals to those in need. And you definitely get your monies worth in unlimited fine food and free alcohol.)