VILLAGE OF EAST SYRACUSE — After it was rescheduled from the day before due to a storm in the forecast, the skies cleared up just in time for the 19th annual Taste of East Syracuse held the evening of July 31.

The celebration of local cuisine took place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. that Wednesday outside the village municipal building at the corner of North Center and Ellis streets. As attendees mingled in the parking lot and enjoyed a bite to eat, kids across the way at Sterling Park played basketball, slid down a bounce slide, had their faces painted, and rode on ponies.

At different stands lining the lot, Vito’s Ristorante sold chicken riggies, meatball subs and salt potatoes; St. Matthew’s Church had chips, water and T-shirts; Scott’s Scoops sold brownie sundaes and strawberry shortcake to benefit the nonprofit In My Father’s Kitchen; and volunteers with the East Syracuse Recreation Committee grilled up hamburgers and hot dogs and also had pizza slices, soda and water on hand.

All throughout the food festival, the local rock band The Noisy Boys performed under the summer sun, playing such songs as “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel, “American Girl” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and “Yellow” by Coldplay. Band member Chris Krupa stepped up to fill the role of joke-cracking emcee as well, just as he has for the majority of the times the yearly event has been held.

For the 12th year, the festival also featured a cook-off on the main stage between East Syracuse Mayor Lorene Dadey and Wegmans chef Jason Nelepovitz, with their respective meals judged by a panel of invited guests known around the community.

The panel seated in front of the stage included Kim Infanti, who works as the executive director of digital engagement at Syracuse University; her husband, Steve Infanti, who’s the sports director for NewsChannel 9; Mike Robinson, the president of Village Decoration Ltd.; television news anchor and author of hockey-themed writings Christie Casciano, alongside her sister JoAnn—a longtime village resident—and another one of her NewsChannel 9 colleagues, Iris St. Meran, the co-host of “Bridge Street”; Greg Avellino, the deputy superintendent for the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District; Shannon Thannhauser, who co-hosts “The Morning Mess” on 95X; DeWitt Police Captain Brenton White; East Syracuse Elementary first grade teachers Alyssa Moskowitz and Ashley Irvine; Ethan Krupa, a village parks and recreation employee and the son of the night’s emcee; and Joan Tolhurst, also known as “Mrs. T,” who was representing the senior citizen community. Also this reporter, Jason Klaiber.

After an exclamation of “mangia!” the guest judges proceeded to taste the dinners and desserts placed in front of them. Once they made up their minds, each hoisted up their paddle to show which cook’s meal they preferred.
Dadey’s meal consisted of a pulled pork slider, barbecue chicken, fresh corn salad and a homemade parfait, while Nelepovitz plated Hawaiian pulled pork, macaroni salad, Waldorf salad, and chicken marinated in Italian dressing that was placed on a pesto bun with tomato and mozzarella, all before whipping out a strawberry shortcake cup with sweet cream cheese filling and lemon cookies crumbled on top.

Compliments were given to both chefs, with words like “perfection,” “superb,” “refreshing” and “exceptional” being used. For certain judges, their decision came down to the dessert portions of the meals or which pulled pork they liked more, and others made sure to mention how they appreciated the use of traditional family recipes in the case of Nelepovitz’s salads.

Though some judges considered it a toss-up or at least a tough call between the competitors, the vote tally in the end was 10-4 in favor of the mayor, who owns Sunshine’s Coffee Shop on Thompson Road with her husband, Patrick.

Tom Richardson, East Syracuse’s parks and recreation director, said this year’s Taste festival “turned out well,” adding that it was a decent-sized crowd considering the postponement of the event. He said that over the years, he has taken pleasure in putting on the festival with his department and the recreation committee because it’s been a chance for local residents to try food from local businesses, listen to quality music, and see faces they haven’t seen in a while.