Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Taste of the Season 2011

Ice Sculpture

The holiday season officially began with one of Hilton Head's most anticipated event... Taste of the Season.
For the 22nd edition, the Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce gathered thirty local restaurants and eateries including The Jazz Corner, Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana, Alexander's Seafood Restaurant, Aqua Ocean Grill and Red Fish to name a few at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort & Spa to offer locals and visitors signatures dishes and desserts. The ball room was filled with aroma that tickled your taste puds at every step. Whether you prefer seafood or steak, Hilton Head's finest chefs had prepared it fabulously. When visiting the island on your next summer vacation, whether you are beach goers or golfers, you won't want to miss these great places to eat. Among our favorites were Ela's Water Grille's seared diver scallops with truffled beurre blanc with lemon, Berkeley Hall's mesquite grilled bison strip loin, cranberry demi served with dual white and orange sweet potato puree, and the butternut squash bisque, topped with crab nugget and toasted pumpkin seeds.


Lined up for Pino
 Fortunately, guests saved a little room for dessert and had a choice of brownies and cookies, chocolate fettuccini alla panna (cocoa crepes) and of course, Pino Gelato!
After winning the Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce "Small Business of the Year Award", we could not miss this culinary event and wanted to add our famous Pino Gelato Brand to the mix. Earlier in September, when we were invited to Gourmet Sensation with Wolfgang Puck (see the complete story on our blog), we offered our unique gelato and sorbetto classic Italian flavors. On Friday night, we added the new seasonal flavors to bring our own taste of the season here on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
The authentic Italian gelato flavors Spumone and Tiramisu were the hit of the night, along with Christmas favorite Candy Cane. Some preferred the pallet cleansing sorbettos: Mediterranean citrus and Mojito served as "icing on the cake" after such delicious food for many.

A taste of Italy

All the participants efforts to decorate each table with ornaments, Christmas trees, lights and classic children's books made the spirit of the Holidays come to life.

Daniel's had an elegant presentation

Our beautiful table
 
Pino Gelato donates
 The silent auction tables were full of gifts, including some from Santa Claus himself! Choosing between dining and entertaining such as  Crazy Crab and Old Oyster Factory gift certificates, indulgent escapes including weekend getaways to Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, The Inn at Harbourtown, the Westin or the Hilton Oceanfront Resort and other golf and spa packages made it a lot of fun to bet and support our community!


Not only was the food amazing, but the drinks were a treat as well, and the fact that it was all served among great company, with live jazz music playing in the background, made this event all the more special!

The music men

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Halloween Visitors to Pino Gelato

Which Witch? On Halloween, our favorite witch, Vanessa, swept in with a gaggle of beautiful princesses in tow. Vanessa must have cast a spell on them for they didn't seem in the least bit afraid of her fearsome witchery. Notice the long black nails...Vanessa is a witch to be respected. 

Alexa, known as Cinderella, graced us in a proper blue ball gown. Worn with the flair only a princess can display. (This shot is so sweet!)

Andrea joined in with a tulle in Pink. She could be pretending to be Sleeping Beauty but Sleeping Beauty didn't have the dazzling style that Andrea displayed. (with a mega bright smile!)

Young Sophia arrived without a single dwarf but she is obviously confident without her mini-entourage. (precious. simply a precious moment.)


And of course, much too soon, the troublesome witch swept the glamorous princesses away where they must have proceeded to break hearts and subdue lovelorn ghosts who became dazzled with their twinkling charm.