By Laurel Harrison and Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt
Laurel:
On June 10th, I had the opportunity to represent SacFoodies at this year’s Taste of Yolo. Taste of Yolo is an event dedicated to celebrating the agricultural bounty available in Yolo County. This year, it was hosted in Davis’ Central Park (same location as the weekly Davis Farmer’s Market) and hosted a myriad of restaurants, breweries, wineries, and local agricultural businesses. The booths were divided up by town of origin, making the event feel like a miniature map of the county.
As a born & bred Woodland gal, I was happy to see a strong showing from Woodland. I would argue that the star of the whole show was Las Brasas Taqueria, which had a constant line throughout the day. Of course, Las Brasas is already a Woodland Main St. staple, but it was great to see the rest of the county get to try them out. Because TOY was held on the grass, there were lots of places to sit, rest, and enjoy my wine and snacks.
I had a mini-fangirl moment at the Robbins Black Fox Rice booth as well – if you haven’t tried Black Fox rice, you are seriously missing out. I’m a huge fan because they sell a brown rice that only takes TEN minutes to cook, as opposed to the usual 40-minute wait time. My grandpa (who lives in Seattle) orders this rice directly from Robbins since he can’t find it in Washington – that’s how great it is.
As I mentioned in a March SacFoodies post about the Golden 1 Center, we live in the largest arable valley in the world. The whole world. Events like Taste of Yolo are true showcases of our power as a leader in the national food-o-sphere and in the farm-to-fork movement. When you have out-of-state foodies, like my grandpa, special ordering rice from Robbins, CA, you know you have something special on your hands.
I hope that this event continues to grow, expand, and thrive, if only so I can come back next year!
Cheyenne:
We were so lucky to get the opportunity to be a part of the first annual Taste of Yolo. The weather was beautiful, the food was delish and the wine was flowing all the makings of a great event. I didn’t grow up in Sacramento so a lot of these locations were completely new to me!
The wide range of breweries, wineries and eateries that were in attendance assured that there was something for every taste.
I started my day by tasting some jam from Manas Ranch, I then proceeded to buy three jars because it was so delicious, that I had to make sure I could share it with my friends. There were so many flavors to pick from but I think that the Pomegranate and Apricot really stood out to me!
There were so many booths that it was hard to decide what I wanted to taste and sip on. I started with Blue Note Brewing Company’s Freshly Squeezed IPA. I’m honestly not the biggest beer drinker, but I loved this! It was mild and worked so well with those tacos from Las Brasas.
When I saw that Cobram Estates Olive Oil was there I was so excited! I had tried their oil before and have been a loyal customer. The oil is delicious and flavorful, and the bottle comes with a built-in pour spout!
There was so much to see and do at Taste of Yolo it’s hard to tell you all of it! It has been one of my favorite events I’ve attended. It did such a great job of telling the culinary story of Yolo County, from ground to gourmet. I can’t wait to attend next year and hope you will too!
To see more of our Taste of Yolo adventures, head over to our Facebook or Instagram!