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Aug. 25, 2003
By JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS
Staff writer
"Fire in the hole," shouted chef David Barton as he produced a flash of flame to warm two wedges of hard
Kasseri cheese.
Barton was kept busy Sunday preparing endless servings of Saganaki, a classic Greek appetizer, as part of the 16th
annual Taste of Saugatuck.
The cheese is coated with egg whites and flour, cooked in olive oil, then flamed with brandy and extinguished with
lemon juice.
Barton and his wife Deb own The White House Bistro & Winery.
Seeing the sizable line awaiting his culinary work at the Brinkmann portable grill, Barton called out to the crowd,
"We've done about 400 of these today, and if you have to wait -- well believe it or not, it's worth the wait!"
Mermaid Bar & Grill had repeat customers for hours, many going back for seconds and beyond for the main offering:
Margarita chicken.
Girls dressed as mermaids took food orders and handed out cookies and lemonade.
"This is a wonderful event for our community. It's fun," said Mermaid co-owner Sharon Shanahan.
Money raised from the event will go to the Boy Scouts and the Saugatuck Teacher's Scholarship Fund.
The event was a feast for the eyes and ears as well as the palette.
Clearbrook restaurant was serving up Mediterranean salmon salad stuffed with avocado, grilled lamb chops, and mouth-watering
chocolate and hazelnut fudge truffles.
On the other end of Water Street, giant colorful fishing lures the size of loaves of bread dangled from the tent at
The Boathouse.
The restaurant staff was kept busy spooning bowls of chili and cole slaw and doling out barbecued pork sandwiches.
Casey McMahon and Heather Maher were running the booth for Uncommon Grounds coffee roasters.
They served up about five dozen fresh brownies faster than you can say chocolate.
"We sold out of the brownies right away," Maher said. "They went real quick."
Restaurants and shops offering samples of their goods had a warm and sunny day but had to grapple a bit with wind
gusts and some aggressive bees.
"The wind's not bad -- it feels good. The bees on the other hand ...," Maher said, not finishing the thought
as her eye spotted one of the pests. A hot-pink plastic fly swatter sat nearby.
The bees were perhaps enamored by the parade of sweets spread out along Water Street.
Another favorite item was thick coffee cake loaded with freshly picked blueberries from The River Market & Deli.
The bandstand at Wicks Park was alive and swinging to the upbeat music of the Flat River Big Band as sailboats sauntered
by and folks stretched out on the cool green grass.
Sharp blasts from Kevin Hudson's clarinet easily cut through the wind and crowd noise, while a few brave couples ventured
onto the sidewalk to dance.
The sweet and tangy aromas of sauces and sugars blended with the smell of Sterno and the occasional cigar.
"We've been very busy today," said Kathy Rober, an elementary school teacher selling tickets. She enjoys
the annual event because it brings out tourists and a growing number of returning locals.
"You can take the family out for a good time, and you don't have to spend a million dollars," Rober said.
"This is an exceptional, great event," said Fred Denny, general manager of the Copper Grille, a new restaurant
that opened in Douglas just three weeks ago.
"We're livin' it up over here," he said, serving up Grilled Shrimp Lollipops with mango sauce, Seared Ahi
Tuna, and lots of crab cakes.
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