3rd annual tomato tasting event is this Sunday!

Photo courtesy of ozarkslowfood.org

**** UPDATE: 8/1/2011 I never made it to this event, did you? I'd love to hear what you thought, if you did. ~Lyndi ****


Are you a tomato worshipper?   

Does the mere mention of “heirloom tomatoes” increase your heartbeat? 

Are you super-duper obsessive about NEVER letting your tomatoes accidently find their way into the refrigerator so they won’t get mealy?

Artists my have their inspirational, yet very human, muses. 

Mine is the tomato.

Don’t judge me.

I mean, c'mon... look at this luscious beauty!  

Something special is happening on Sunday.

The Ozark Slow Food and the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks host the 2011 Tomato Tasting event on Sunday, July 24^th from 11am-1pm.

This event will be held inside the building near the entrance to the garden.  If you haven’t been there, it’s pretty cool with vaulted ceiling and dramatic beams.

This third annual event  will feature more than 25 varieties of tomatoes to taste, including heirlooms (yesssss!) and unusual varieties (oh boy-oh boy-oh boy!).

Wait, there’s more…

There will be master gardeners to answer your tomato growing questions AND a chef presentation by Johnny Phillips.

Who is Chef Johnny Phillips?

According to Teresa from Ozark Slow Food, Chef Johnny Phillips currently lives in Northwest Arkansas and is a Slow Food volunteer. In his 30 years of experience around the US and the world, Johnny has developed restaurants and catering services, marketed specialty foods, hosted a Food and Travel concept show and written many food and wine articles. He has eaten and cooked in many parts of the world including France, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Mexico as well top US destinations such as Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Boston and Key West.   His presentation at the Tomato Fest will feature some easy to prepare dishes featuring tomatoes and international flavors.

See?  You HAVE to go to this!

Admission is pay-at-the door.  Cost is $5 per person and $2.50 for those who are ten years and under.  As a bonus, this also gets you admission to the gardens (score!).

Click here for directions.

Now, all I have to do is rearrange my schedule on Sunday!  Hope to see you all there!

(Thanks Teresa, for letting me know about this event!)

Lyndi

Eat well, my friends.  Eat well.