Photo by Tony Bentivegna
A Tasteful Celebration
Massive food sampling event raises money for Columbus State student scholarships
Columbus State Community College's popular and long-standing event Taste the Future will be back this August for its 26th year.
The event will feature more than 50 vendor stations with samples of food and drinks from local restaurants, markets and breweries, including such Columbus institutions as Barcelona, the Refectory and Elevator Brewing Company.
Taste the Future is put on by the Columbus State Foundation. The foundation uses the proceeds to fund scholarships, which are often invaluable in giving Columbus State students the financial resources to complete their higher education.
Since the first Taste the Future in 1989, the event has raised over $1 million. Last year alone, the event had more than1,000 attendees and raised $155,000.
This year, three alumni chefs will be honored at the event: Wiley E. Bates III, who is now the Global executive chef of Pizza Hut; Bryan Frick, who is now the Nestle corporate chef of national accounts; and Ken Vedrinski, owner, executive chef and sommelier at two Italian restaurants in South Carolina.
In addition to the honorary chefs and many restaurant participants, this will be the first year that the event will also feature a food art contest put on by Rock on Ice. Local carvers, many of whom graduated from Columbus State, will create food sculptures for the contest, and will be putting the finishing touches on their sculptures at the event so attendees can watch their carving skills in action.
Taste the Future event will take place Aug. 11 from 6-9 p.m. at Columbus State’s Downtown campus. In the event of rain, the event will take place in the parking garage.
Tickets are $100 per person, but those wishing to make a larger contribution can do so by becoming an Event Patron, Event Supporter or Event Benefactor by contributing $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, respectively.
Athnie McMillan-Comeaux is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
