2006- One Hot Bite!
Hot
temperatures did not keep an estimated 400,000 people from attending
this year’s Comcast Bite of Seattle presented by Crystal Springs Water
this past weekend and event producers admit that cold and wet items
were best sellers as people tried to stay cool in the record heat.
Crystal Springs Water
provided 115,000 cups of free water to guests and over 43,000 17 oz.
bottles of water were sold. The Bite’s official soda sponsor went
through 13,000 20 oz bottles of A&W Bottling products. Warm weather
also inspired full capacity in the Stella Artois beer gardens where
over 200 kegs were poured, translating to approximately 38,400
cups. All of this does not include the thousands of lemonade,
iced teas and novelty beverages served by the restaurants.
Keeping beverages cold at the Bite took 48,000 lbs. of ice, a new Bite
record.
The Vines of Washington
wine-tasting exhibit presented 11 participating Washington State
wineries that poured over 100 cases of wine. The Bite of Seattle®
supports the Washington wine industry and is looking forward to expand
and build this attraction at next year’s event.
Tom Douglas’ Flavors of America: Cooking for Food Lifeline, the Bite’s
newest attraction and fundraiser, was well received with an estimated
$17,000 raised for the charity.
Each dollar raised by Food Lifeline provides six meals for people in
need. Thousands of people who enjoyed Millstone Coffee’s Bite of
Seattle Blend® also helped support Food Lifeline by donating 10% of
sales to this worthy cause.
Culinary enthusiasts packed The Bite Cooks! presented by Comcast and
Banner Bank to enjoy 20 cooking demonstrations throughout the weekend
that were filmed and produced into a series of shows. These shows can
be viewed year round and are available to Comcast subscribers using
Video ON Demand. The Bite Cooks! featured 19 of Seattle’s finest
chefs and created culinary theatre while sharing secret recipes and
helpful cooking tips to the public. Over 3,500 audience members
attended The Bite Cooks! and received a customized Comcast bottle of
hot sauce, an appropriate souvenir for a 90 degree weekend.
As always, restaurants took
center stage at this year’s Bite® and many new participants were award
winners this year. With an over-whelming selection of food to choose
from, a panel of six judges critiqued each food vendor looking for the
best of the Bite. First time participant RAIN Modern Japanese Cuisine
was awarded Best Entrée for their Rainy Day Rolls. Racha Noodles and
Thai Cuisine took second place with their Coconut Shrimp and Jones BBQ
placed third serving their Combo Plate. Steel Pig BBQ, also new
to the Bite this year, was honored with the Best “Take A Walk on the
Wild Side” for Collard Greens. There was a tie for best BBQ
between Rhodies Smokin BBQ and Famous Dave’s BBQ, both new to the
Bite. Rhodies Smokin BBQ was also awarded with Best Booth Design
for their festive booth decor. Best Dessert went to Kathy Casey’s Dish D’lish for their Berry Bouffant.
Crowds flocked to sponsor booths for more free samples. Over
51,000 Bite goers enjoyed a sample from the PowerBar exhibit, One
Organic handed out over 100,000 various samples of organic products and
over 14,000 samples of Jennie-O Turkey was distributed throughout the
weekend. The NBA Rhythm N’ Rims exhibit attracted great crowds,
especially during a guest appearance by Nate Robinson on Sunday
afternoon.
“At the Bite of Seattle people buy with their eyes,” says Jody May,
event producer. Thousands of chocolate dipped strawberries on a stick
known as “Shishkaberry’s®” were devoured daily at the festival, and the
traditionally popular Biringer Farms Strawberry Shortcake also was a
big seller.
On Saturday afternoon, shells were flying at the NW Regional Shrimp
eating contest held by Old Bay seasoning where over 100 people
participated in the event. Other highlights include Emerald Queen
Casino, always a popular stop for a game of black jack or spin on the
wheel where everyone wins a prize. Emerald Queen Casino also
sponsored the KJR Fountain Stage where huge crowds gathered daily.
Eastside Harley-Davidson allowed many to view their large display of
the newest models of motorcycles and even some of the bikes revved up
their engines on the Eastside Harley-Davidson/KZOK 102.5 stage. Along
with motorcycles, Scion of Puyallup has a large display of cars,
showing off all the latest models and options.
With over 40 of Seattle’s finest restaurants, more than 30 food product
companies, five beer gardens,
a wine-tasting exhibit, seven entertainment stages and over 125 acts
including a stage just for kids and a comedy club, the Bite once again
proved to be Seattle’s biggest and best option for free summer fun.
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