Festival of flavor

What happens when you blend Caribbean reggae, hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll music with cuisines from cheeseburgers to Thai food? You get the 26th annual Taste of Bloomington, a melting pot of cultures and cuisine.

This Saturday, Bloomington residents can get a little more bang for their buck downtown at Showers Common next to City Hall, located at 401 N. Morton St. For $6, attendees will get eight hours of live entertainment and access to dozens of the best menu items from some of Bloomington’s most popular restaurants.

Ron Stanhouse, Taste of Bloomington co-director, said that there are a record 40 restaurants participating. And although little has changed over the last few years, attendance has been increasing five to 10 percent every year, Talisha Coppock, Taste of Bloomington co-director, said.

“I think it promotes a variety of restaurants that we have and it brings people into downtown to celebrate,” Coppock said. “It also has quite a following around the state as well. A lot of the attendees used to work at the restaurants when they went to school here in Bloomington.”

If there’s one thing Bloomington has, it’s a plethora of locally owned restaurants. This year marked the first time Coppock and Stanhouse had to turn away restaurant applicants. Still, a few newcomers have joined the ranks, including Sugar Daddy’s Cakes, Catering & Café and FARMbloomington.

Deanna Hawkins started Sugar Daddy’s two years ago with her brother, turning a hobby into a full-blown business.

“My brother and I did catering on the side and it was just kind of a family thing,” Hawkins said. “We had the opportunity to buy out a bakery, so we turned it into a little mom and pop café.”

Hawkins plans to showcase her specialty cakes at the Taste. Other than mini-key lime and strawberry cheesecakes, the Sugar Daddy’s booth will feature brisket, St. Louis ribs and pulled pork.

FARMbloomington will offer a very different menu. Chef and owner Daniel Orr opened the restaurant earlier this year. He offers traditional farm fare with a modern twist.
“It’s been awesome. We’re very excited about being in Bloomington,” Orr said. “I come from a family that had a big farm down near Evansville. This is like coming back to the farm.”

FARMbloomington is not only a restaurant. It’s also home to a country store, a bar and a live-roots and bluegrass venue. Orr plans to serve gazpacho shots, minty green-pea guacamole and mango iced tea.

“For a new restaurant, it hopefully allows us to meet some new friends and reach out and form a community with some other restaurants,” Orr said.

The musical lineup is just as diverse as the culinary menu. Local rock ‘n’ roller Jenn Cristy kicks off the festival, followed by veteran roots reggae group the Ark Band and Polka Boy, a group popular in Indianapolis for turning hit songs into polka music. The eccentric group Here Come the Mummies will rock out in full mummy wraps, and the Lee Boys will close down the party with the holy sounds of the sacred steel movement, a new fusion of gospel, R&B, jazz and other genres.

Not all the artists are local, but some have solid ties with Bloomington. The Ark Band, which hails from St. Lucia island in the Caribbean, has a long history in Bloomington. Terry Bobb and his brother formed the old-school reggae group 22 years ago, when reggae was still roots, not dancehall.

But the heyday of roots reggae is long past. The Ark Band used to play with the likes of the Beach Boys and Kenny Chesney, but now the venues only book acts guaranteed to pack the house.

“The student body who knew us is gone. There are still little pockets where reggae will never die,” Bobb said. “Twenty-two years later, honey, we’ve done everything. We’re just riding easy. We’re still here man. We’re still stroking.”
Now that’s flavor.