Staff R eport With the first-ever “Savor the Flavor & Style of Cuero” on Thursday sneaking up on the heels of the World Series of Cuero Poker Night, the turnaround for the chamber of commerce was brisk.
“We've learned a lot from this first time,” Angie Cuellar, director of the Cuero Chamber of Commerce, said in opening remarks. “We’ve been to Goliad’s taste off, and we want ours to be better.”
Cuero’s restaurants and boutiques brought their “A game” with their best dishes and outfits for a celebration of food, fashion and community.
Each table dined “family style,” sending a representative to pick up the dishes for the whole table and bringing it back to serve. While a food category was being tasted, the styles of area boutiques were highlighted on stage with Shawn Wilke announcing the models and design wares.
Area restaurants included EVthing, the Pecan House and Pecan House Cafe, KB’s BBQ, 5D Steakhouse and 5D Tavern, Mad Batter Cheesecakes, Maya Restaurant, Ventura’s Tamales, and Werner’s Culinary Express. They competed in the categories of appetizers, cocktails, soup/ salad, main/ side dishes, and dessert. Diners filled out ballots after each round of tasting.
Soup dishes are loaded onto a table’s serving tray.
Diners vote on their favorite flavors of the night.
The boutiques included A Special Stitch, Be. Boutique, Classy B’s, Friends on Main, June’s Pearls, Leather Creations by Renee Wilke/ Texas Souls, Rae’s Spa and Rendezvous.
Diners filled out color- coded ballots for their choices of best dish in each category.
The first-year champions include: Best Appetizer – KB’s BBQ, Kevin Broll with his mouthwatering Beef Brochette Best Cocktail – 5D Tavern with their refreshing Lime Pie Cocktail Best Soup/Salad – KB’s BBQ with their hearty White Chicken Chili Best Main & Side Dish – Cuero Pecan House with their hometown favorite Chicken Pot Pie Best Dessert – Cuero Pecan House with their decadent Bread Pudding topped with Green Cow’s sweet cream ice cream!
Best in Style (Fashion Show) – Be. Boutique, owner Cecilia Hedrick Showmanship Award – Be. Boutique for their stunning and creative vendor table display!
Cuellar thanked all the chamber members and vendors for their support of the event and looked forward to next year.
“Here’s to many more years of flavor and style!” she said.
Be. Boutique owner Cecilia Hedrick, left, wins the Best in Style and Showmanship awards presented by Chamber President Jon Eric Rodriguez. (Contributed Photo)
The Pecan House’s Chicken Pot Pie won best main dish and their Bread Pudding topped with Green Cow ice cream won best dessert. Annette Rath, left, owner of the Pecan House, accepts their award from Chamber President Jon Eric Rodriguez. (Contributed Photo)
The 5D Tavern won Best Cocktail with their Lime Pie Cocktail. Brianne Dlugosch, right, accepts the award. (Contributed Photo)
KB’s BBQ won Best Appetizer with their Beef Brochette and their White Chicken Chili won best soup. Owner Kevin Broll, right, accepts their award from Rodriguez. (Contributed Photo)
