Salt Lake Magazine’s premier summer food event – Tastemakers – is back for 2017, and also it’s seventh year. Apparently the de rigueur gift for such an anniversary is copper, so I’ll force myself to raise a copper mug
(affiliate link, we earn a small referral fee on purchases) with a Moscow Mule this weekend. It’d be impolite not to.
For this years event its all change from the past few years. The two-day food and wine progressive tasting event will be shedding its former digs at Gallivan Plaza, and instead setup shop at The Gateway on June 8th and 9th (5-10 p.m.) each day. If you’ve not been before, this years event promises to be the best yet.
At the time of writing more than 40 restaurants and producers have signed on to provide samples, pours and tastings of their efforts; scroll to the end of this article to see the full list. As well as restaurants pitching up at The Gateway, several around town will also be serving samples directly from their restaurant for Tastemakers attendees. Open top, hop-on-hop-off buses will be available to whisk guests from the main pavilion at The Gateway to additional, off-site participating downtown restaurants. Yep, you read that right.
The general pass for the two day event is $30 per person and gives guests access to the venue and tastings from all participating restaurants and vendors. Guests receive a Tastemakers Passport, to be stamped after each sampling. The Passports are valid for both nights of the event and are later redeemable for discounts and coupons at participating restaurants throughout the summer too.
Alcohol is not included with the basic ticket, but can be purchased on site. A VIP pass is also available priced $85 per person and includes access to the VIP pavilion, exclusive VIP tastings and five-drink passes. Five signature Tastemaker cocktails will be served at the event as well as wine and craft brews. Tickets are on sale now and the VIP ones usually sell pretty quickly.
And, as a final cherry on top – a portion of all proceeds will benefit Head Start Utah, a program that promotes school readiness for young children from low-income families. So now you have no excuses at all.
Pictures from 2016 event, restaurant information follows:
Participating restaurants and producers for Tastemakers 2017 are as follows at time of press:
350 main
Beehive Cheese Company
Bulleit Bourbon
Cache Toffee Collection
Chip Cookies
Chocolate Conspiracy
Creminelli
Cuisine Unlimited
Cummings Studio chocolate
Distillery 36
Don Julio
The Eklektik
Eva’s
Finca
Fleming’s Steakhouse
Frida Bistro
Harbor Seafood & Steak
Harmons
Himalayan Kitchen
Hugo Coffee
Ketel One
La Caille
Laziz Kitchen
Market Street Grill
Michelangelo Ristorante
Mountain Town Olive Oil Company
New Yorker
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Park City Culinary
Redstone Olive Oil
Rodizio Grill
Ruth’s Chris
Spencer’s For Steaks & Chops
Texas De Brazil
Prohibition
Proper Brewing Co
Provisions
Stoneground
Squatters
Sugarhouse Distillery
R&R BBQ
Disclosure: affiliate links in this article.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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