Italian Inspirations

Local Cheese Tasting Events

Since I’m always seeking out fun Foodie Events & News, Seattle is a wonderful place to live. Whether it’s food, wine, beer, cheese, art or culture, the calendar never ceases to fill up fast with great events to look forward to every season. My favorite time of year is summer, but there is plenty to do leading up to the short but sweet season that entices us to live in the Pacific Northwest…

With spring finally here (even though the weather isn’t very convincing yet–but wait, is that the sun just starting to peek out in a sky that’s turning blue?!?), I am getting excited about the upcoming months. I just got my ticket to attend the Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival on April 7th, when at least 20 local fromagiers will bring their goodies to SoDo’s Seattle Design Center from 12-6pm. It’s a 21 & over event featuring cheese samples, beer and wine pairings and other culinary treats. This Festival is a benefit for the Cascade Harvest Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to re-localizing the food system in Washington by connecting consumers more directly with producers. You can find out more about the Coalition and its programs at www.cascadeharvest.org. I believe that event will be a classy prelude to the next festival on my spring events calendar, which is the Seattle Cheese Festival at Pike Place Market! This year it will be held on May 19th & 20th and if the weather is anything like last year (sunny, warm and fantastic–we’re talking the leave-your-sweatshirt-at-home kinda weather), die-hard tasters, tourists and families will be out en-masse for a chaotic, cheese-filled good time. Sign up in advance on-line for seminars and wine tastings and then line up early outside to get front-row position for mouth-watering demos by local chefs and the cheesemaking gurus of DeLaurenti’s deli counter. Last year, in addition to sampling at least 50 different kinds of award-winning cheeses in one day, I caught local pastaio Mike Easton of Il Corvo Pasta making fresh ravioli garnished with a gorgonzola dolce sauce that he served to us lucky folks in the audience. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us this year…

Ci vediamo là! See you there!