Hunger met its match on April 16 when the Rotary Club of South Pasadena hosted its 8th annual Taste of South Pasadena event. The event consisted of an evening of food and wine tasting. Thirty-four different restaurants, which is an all time record for the event, participated as they set up tables inside and outside of their stores, ready to give away as many samples as they could. Shuttles were also provided for faster, easier travels throughout the sampling route.

The beginning of the route, where guests were to receive their wristbands, started at Canoe House. Outside of Canoe House was where the wine tasting section also took place, where music and tables were set up for socializing. Fourteen different craft wineries attended the event and sampled away some of their best wines to those over 21.

When I began my solo route, I saw many people walking in and out of stores around me with smiles on their faces. The first establishment I walked into was Cake Sensation, a bakery that offered slices of five different yummy cakes. Rounding the corner of the same block was Fair Oaks Pharmacy. Fair Oaks Pharmacy offered sweet vanilla ice cream with a choice of whipped cream, strawberries, cherries, pineapples, or hot fudge drizzled over the scoop.

Some of my favorite foods were from Crack Shack, which offered a crispy chicken slider with coleslaw on a small bun, ARO, which sampled out tacos and sweet corn with chipotle mayonnaise on it, and Bristol Farms, which gave out small samples of their rigatoni pasta and meat sauce.

I was honestly surprised over how many establishments offered full size samples to their guests. With my experience from different food events, I usually get nothing more than a small bite of what many places have to offer. By the end of this event, though, I was insanely full and spent my sweet time walking back to my car to walk off the delicious food I had just eaten.