by James Coulter
Chef Eimi of InnerG Cafe serves a lot of great tastes, from cheeseburger eggrolls to Haitian-style mac-and-cheese. Most interesting of all? It’s all completely vegan!
Chef Eimi had a chance to showcase her plant-based food menu at the annual Taste of Davenport last Saturday. She was one of nearly 30 vendors to attend to serve the great tastes of the Davenport area.
“The turnout is amazing,” she said. “It is an amazing crowd. People are stopping by the table and tasting the food. They are loving it. So we are excited. I love the energy. It is high vibrational energy, and the crowd is just lit.”
From barbecue and burgers to Mexican and Italian, restaurants and eateries from across Davenport and the surrounding area showcased their menu items at Taste of Davenport at the Tom Fellows Community Center.
Seb’s Kitchen, a private catering company, served unique fusion items like chimichurri chicken, cheesy potato mash, and apple barbecue meatballs. For the past five years, they have catered to various events, so attending this year’s event was a no-brainer, explained executive chef Sebastian Navarez.
“Everybody seems to be loving the food,” he said. “We are giving away a good number of business cards. We are giving away food to the community. I love that everyone else is enjoying the food.”
Heather Faulkner, the head chef of Cooters n Smoke, a local barbecue team that attends barbecue competitions and serves their barbecue at the Old Davenport Hotel, served her famous mouth-watering turkey sliders.
“If you want some of the best juiciest and moist the most tender turkey you have ever had in your life, come on down to Cooters on Smoke,” she boasted. As for Taste of Davenport, she said: “I think it turned out great. I think they did a great job and everybody is happy and they like what they are getting.”
Kelly Callihan, Davenport City Manager, has been overseeing events like this for 35 years. He was quite impressed by this year’s turnout. In fact, he claimed that even more people would have attended this year, so he’s planning on seeking a larger venue for next year.
“It is a great event. We always have a great turnout for it,” he said. “We had close to 500. We could easily do 600. I love seeing all the people come out and have a great time and getting their bellies full.”
