Hometown cooking
If you're looking to get the flavor of businesses and restaurants in the Lake Zurich area, look no further than the Sunday's "Taste of the Towns."
The event, sponsored by Cambridge Bank, is hosted by the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce. It replaces the village's annual Oktoberfest celebration, which ended last year after a 12-year run.
The primary focus of the Taste is offering area residents a sample of food and beverages from local eateries, said Dale Perrin, chamber executive director.
The event will run from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Paulus Park, off Route 12, just north of Route 22, Lake Zurich. It will include live entertainment and a variety of food and beverage vendors.
Participating vendors include Baskin Robbins/Dunkin' Donuts & Deli, Biaggi's Restaurant Italiano, Binny's Beverage Depot, California Pizza Kitchen, Costco Wholesale, Culver's of Lake Zurich, Dinner by Design, The Fresh Market, Glunz Family Winery, Jewel Osco, Little Joey's Pizza, Pasta & Catering, Long Grove Café, Lou Malnati's Pizza, The Olive Tap and Stoney River Legendary Steaks.
Three local bands featured are An Octave Above, an a capella vocal ensemble; Triple Dawg Dare, a classic rock music band; and the headliner West Side Winders, which won third place in the 2007 North American Rock Competition.
Playing for a home crowd is exciting, said Dan McNamara, 47, of Lake Zurich, lead base player for Triple Dawg Dare. McNamara's day job is running his own Web design company called McNamara Interactive. He also is a chamber board of directors member.
The five-member band has been together for about four years. They started out playing electric blues and shifted to more traditional rock 'n' roll such as Elvis Presley, the Foo Fighters and Collective Soul.
"A lot of us played in our early years," McNamara said. "Now that our families are getting older, kids are growing up and we've got a little more time and income, we started doing this again. We're continuing our dream that we had."
The group has played numerous suburban festivals, including the Elk Grove Rotary Fest and Hawthorn Woods' Concert in the Park.
"This is the first time we will be playing in Lake Zurich for a festival-type thing," McNamara said. "I think it's going to be something different that you haven't seen."
The event includes children's activities such as inflatable "spacewalks" provided by Spacewalk of Northern Chicago and Lake County. Casten Autobody will donate a car for kids to paint at no charge.
Perrin said the goal is to sell 500 taste passports, valid at all vendors' booths. So far, organizers have sold about 100.
Passports are $25 each and allow the holder to receive samples of food and beverages from each vendor. They can be shared by a family, but only one sample per vendor is allowed.
There are limited passports available. Advance purchase is required to guarantee entrance, as passports may not be sold at the park gate. Passports can be purchased at www.ticketleap.com.
The event also offers beer and wine tasting. Attendees can purchase a full glass of beer or wine, but food will not be sold.
"The whole purpose is for people to come out and try as many different food vendors and give exposure to these vendors," Perrin said.
Some chamber members thought a smaller event was more fitting with the organization's mission to provide networking opportunities for member businesses. Members had concerns about cost and liability issues surrounding Oktoberfest.
Proceeds from the Taste will help fund the chamber's scholarship program. The goal is to award $6,000 or more in educational scholarships to chamber members or their employees, or children of chamber members or employees.
There is no fee for entrance to the park. For details, call the chamber at (847) 438-5572 or visit www.lakezurichareachamber.com.