New Owensboro Food and Beverage Coalition begins monthly restaurant events
OWENSBORO, Ky. – Our neighbors up the Ohio River in Owensboro, Kentucky, continue to be a cool, cutting-edge town.
The introduction of the new Owensboro Food & Beverage Coalition means there will be even more reasons to take the short drive to enjoy monthly restaurant “weeks” and all kinds of events and collaborations amongst Owensboro’s food and beverage establishments and producers.
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Ben Skiadas, owner of Lure Seafood, formed Do Inc. about six months ago. He he calls it “a single-source resource for all events in the community.” It's like a community events calendar, but more. One mission of Do Inc. was to be an advocate of community collaboration. With the food and beverage industry being near and dear to Skiadas’ heart, the Food & Beverage Coalition was a natural outgrowth of Do Inc. for him.
“We had the first meeting last month with a board of 20 local restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, caterers and farm owners,” he said. “They’re already talking about some cool collaborations, like bar owners inviting caterers to come do a pop up. We really want to give the food and beverage community a unified voice, act as a sounding board, and help drive food and beverage events."
Events are a big goal. The Coalition already has put together a calendar of monthly restaurant “weeks” through the end of 2023. The first is the Owensboro Mac & Cheese Throwdown, which runs this week through Saturday. More than 20 locations will be participating with their own Mac & Cheese specials in standard and gourmet categories.
In case diners missed locations or are from out of town and only have one day to get to Owensboro, on Saturday, Feb. 11, there will be a tasting event at the RiverPark Center before the Gangstagrass concert, complete with voting and a people's choice award. Find more information on Do Inc.'s Facebook page
Some competitors' contributions will be the Big Porker Mac at Lure Smoke Shack food truck, made with white cheddar smoked mac m cheese topped with pulled pork, pork belly burnt ends, pork rinds, candied jalapeños and a double load of barbecue sauce; a breakfast mac n cheese bowl at Dee's Diner; and Mexi Mac n Cheese at Don Mario topped with Mexican ground beef, corn and peppers.
Other upcoming 2023 events are:
March 3-11 - Burger Week (by Visit Owensboro)
April 16-22 - Milkshake and Donut Week
May 7-13 - Barbecue and Bourbon Week
June 11-17 - Fried Chicken, Sweet Tea, and Lemonade Week
July 16-22 - Farm to Table and Drink Local Week
Aug. 13-19 - Taco and Margarita Week
Sept. 17-23 - Beef/Steak and Old Fashioneds Week
Oct. 22-28 - Coffee and Chocolate Week
Nov. 12-18 - Spuds n Suds Week
December - Hot Chocolate and Sweets Week
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The Coalition has more plans that will benefit the food and beverage industry in many ways. It will serve as a clearinghouse for any out-of-town event planners who might be looking for food trucks or caterers from the area, and, in the near future, it will establish a food truck park.
In more behind-the-scenes functions, it will create a directory of farms and gardeners that can be matched with restaurants that can use their products, and eventually a co-op where chefs can contract with growers for specific produce. Intramural sports teams for food industry employees will foster camaraderie, and Skiadas is looking at grants and funding to work with River Valley Behavioral Health to establish a resource for industry employees who might need help with mental health or addiction.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Owensboro Food and Beverage Coalition begins monthly events
