Festival of the Arts foods once again satisfy
A patron digs into an Indian taco at the Festival of the Arts. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman)
Once again, the culinary arts at the Festival of the Arts hit the spot at downtown Oklahoma City’s annual spring extravaganza.
As usual, I hit the festival on Friday to cover it for The Oklahoman and NewsOK and then on Saturday with my family. Both days I found tasty treats to please my tastebuds and tummy.
When you visit the fest’s International Food Row, you won’t find just the typical fair food, though Indian tacos, curly fries and corndogs can be found. Some of the finest restaurants in the metro area have booths there. Every menu item is priced at $8 or less.
Every vendor goes through a jury process to get into the festival, similar to the jury procedure for the visual artists, though presumably with more tasting involved.
In addition, every vendor has to partner with a local nonprofit group, so every serving goes to support the local arts community.
By Friday, I was nursing an intense craving for my festival favorite: the Baja fish tacos at the Craig and Carter’s Famous Fish Tacos/Norick Art Center booth. Spicy, crispy and incredibly fresh, they always hit the spot.
For Friday dessert, I decided to try a new menu item on International Food Row – the Madagascar Chocolate Panini. Our Food Editor, Dave Cathey, recommended the decadent item from Coco Flow/Cimarron Circuit Opera Company. It was amazingly delicious, with bread just as tasty as the not-too-sweet chocolate tucked inside. After the chocolate sandwich is removed from the panini press, it is lightly drizzled with chocolate and raspberry sauces and plated with whipped cream and sliced strawberries. All the flavors of this dessert work together perfectly.
My friend Kyle accompanied me on Friday and praised the Interurban/Canterbury Choral Society honey pepper bacon chicken sandwich, though he advised asking them to go light on the honey-mustard dressing.
On Saturday, my parents, husband and younger son accompanied me to the festival, which created more opportunities to taste different festival foods. My mom went for a traditional fest favorite: a terrific Indian taco from the Lyric Theatre stall.
My dad praised the chopped brisket sandwich and side of potato salad from the Brewer Entertainment/Oklahoma Children’s Theatre booth as among the best he’s ever tried, high praise from a particular barbecue lover.
For my husband, the only dish that would do was a new item, the London Pride Beer Battered Fish and Chips from the TapWerks/Warrior Angel Children’s Leukemic Foundation. TapWerks is a first-time vendor at the festival, and the fish and chips were in high demand. They were so tasty – fresh made, perfectly fried with a tasty, not-too-strong batter – that my dad actually decided to have them for dessert.
As is my festival custom, I also decided to try a new item at the festival on my second trip to the event. Since the weather was warm inching toward hot, I opted for a light entree, the shrimp and seafood cocktail from AAA/Bon Appetit Catering/Red Earth. Served icy cold with a fresh lemon wedge, the yummy mix of shrimp, crab and lettuce left me with plenty of room for dessert.
To cap our meal, my mom, son and I split a festival tradition: a Strawberries Newport from the Science Museum Oklahoma tent. The scrumptious dessert combines puff pastry, custard, fresh whipped cream and strawberries. Since my 2-year-old Gabe loves them so much, we paid an extra $1 for them to pile on extra berries. Totally worth it.
It was a delicious way to cap our trip to the Festival of the Arts, which ends today. Take your appetite with you!
-BAM
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[...] Deepak I. Shahdadpuri added an interesting post on Festival of the Arts foods once again satisfyHere’s a small excerptA patron digs into an Indian taco at the Festival of the Arts. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman) Once again, the culinary arts at the Festival of the Arts hit the spot at downtown Oklahoma City’s annual spring extravaganza. As usual, I hit the festival on Friday to cover it for The… [...]