I took a brief culinary journey around Stratford-upon-Avon today (Sunday Sept 23) on the Stratford Town Centre Food Festival Taste Trail.
Find out what my five-year-old son and I made of the treats on offer at the nine town centre venues taking part in the 2018 Stratford Town Centre Food Festival Taste Trail.
The Stratford Town Centre Food Festival Taste Trail
I reserved my £5 Taste Trail tickets via the website of the food fest organiser, Stratforward BID, and collected them on the day on Waterside.
Walking past the many street stalls was an effort as the food and drink on offer looked fantastic – but we had a whopping nine venues to visit and only so much stomach space to utilise.
Which venues took part in the 2018 Stratford Town Centre Food Festival Taste Trail?
Our tickets were also maps to happiness, with the nine venues helpfully plotted out on a town centre map.
The venues taking part in Sunday’s 2018 food festival Taste Trail were: Bouche Bakehouse at The Garden Cafe; ASK Italian; Veeno – The Italian Wine Cafe; Vigour Cafe; El Greco; The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Gift Shop; Coffee#1; Carluccio’s; and the Crowne Plaza hotel.
Highlights of the Stratford Town Centre Food Festival Taste Trail
My personal highlights were the smoked salmon and quinoa salad at the Crowne Plaza, accompanied by a cucumber and elderflower Collins for the adults; the bountiful offering at 2017’s Taste Trail winner, Vigour Cafe (both sweet and savoury selections – including their popular hunter stew); and a rich double-chocolate combo at Coffee#1, with a brownie and a honeycomb hot chocolate.
My five-year-old son raved about the spicy sausage arancini at Carluccio’s and the kind offer of ice cream at El Greco (accompanied by a high five) instead of the baklava I tore into.
Despite not buying from the street stalls, the Taste Trail took us into some of Stratford-upon-Avon’s amazing cafes and restaurants, one of which I had not visited before. Between the tasty treats, we spent money at central shops and decided which venues we would return to soon (the boy cannot wait to get back to Carluccio’s!).
Town centre businesses fund events such as this via the Stratforward BID, so it felt right to spend much of our time and money at those businesses.
I hope 2019’s Stratford Town Centre Food Festival will be such a delicious success.
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