October 2012
LAKESIDE 17
17th annual Taste of Gainesville attracts more restaurants By Jane Harrison Combine shrimp and grits, smoked chicken, and whiskey peach bread pudding with dozens of other chefs’ specialties. Add fresh flowers, white table cloths and live music. Mix in hundreds of hungry diners and set on a lakeside plaza under the first evening sky of autumn. The traditional recipe for A Taste of Gainesville kept its flavor for the 17th year last month as the Lake Lanier Rowing Club transformed the Olympic Plaza into an al fresco dining venue. The Sept. 22 LLRC fundraiser attracted the most restaurants in recent years to serve up samples and promote their business. Deborah Garner, who recruited restaurateurs, reported 43 establishments were represented. “They were hungry to have the
opportunity to participate,” she said. Many were reciprocating the club’s support of their businesses, which fill with youth and collegiate athletes in town for regattas and spring rowing training. “I feel we should support local merchants … we send (athletes) to their establishments,” Garner said. Tony Jonovitch of Skogies at Gainesville Marina watched as diners came back for second helpings of grouper fingers. He was among restaurateurs telling prospective patrons where to find their eatery. “The crowd is in good spirits. It’s a really good turnout,” he said. As darkness fell, local rock band The Chattahoochee Carnivores serenaded diners with cover tunes from Jimmy Buffett, Thin
• Dragon Continued from Page 16 the event “Fabulous.” “It’s a good reflection on the city and it’s good for its economy. And it’s good for the county too,” Dunagan said. Asked if he was ready to sam-
ple some sugar cane juice, he laughed, “I’m not sure.” Good thing Sweet Butts Barbecue from Murrayville brought the down home aspect to round out the day’s sweetness.
Lizzy, Tom Petty, Badfinger and other pop artists from the 1960s to the present. Ellen Jelly, who dined with a table of family and friends, was back for her eighth Taste of Gainesville. The Clermont resident said the event makes her calendar every year because “you get to be outside in a beautiful setting, there’s always good food, and you never leave hungry.” Jelly got another reason to love Taste of Gainesville. She won one of the prize prints of the Olympic venue painted by Lake Lanier artist Anne Brodie Hill.
The Taste of Gainesville attracted diners for a unique culinary experience on the Olympic Plaza (top). Heather Jonovitch from Skogies dishes out shrimp and grits and grouper fingers for diners at Taste of Gainesville (right).
PHOTOS BY JANE HARRISON