Our friend Diane Friese made us an irresistible offer: If Wolf Moon Journal would cover the Taste of Brunswick 2009, to be held on June 20th, then we would receive free admission as well as some free tickets to purchase food from the vendors. As long-time foodies, how could we resist? With a population of about 21,000, Brunswick, Maine, might be relatively small, but it has an amazingly good assortment of restaurants, many of them lining the main street. And if that wasn’t enough, the Taste of Brunswick, along with promoting area restaurants, was also supporting a good cause: part of the proceeds would go to the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, which runs a soup kitchen, a food pantry, a food bank, and provides other services as well.

Brunswick is an old New England town with a long, narrow green that stretches through downtown, and the green is bordered by many large, lovely homes that qualify as historic. The Taste of Brunswick was set up on the green, with the vendors under a tent. The green is so long that there was plenty of room for everything: the gate set up to collect the admission fee, the booths, the tent, and the gazebo at the far end, which featured a diverse trio of musical groups: blue grass, rock, and reggae.

Jerks of Grass

This is the first year for this event, and Diane, a Taste of Brunswick volunteer, wondered how the turnout would be. I would have to say it was an unqualified success, with such a crush of people in the food tent that at one point I wondered whether I had the nerve to plunge back in and struggle upstream to a table. Being a true foodie, I hesitated only for a moment, and in I went, pushing my way to the gelato table run by The Gelato Fiasco, where I was rewarded with some of the tastiest gelato I’ve ever had, creamy coconut and an even creamier chocolate.

Lobster BLTs, only in Maine

Nevertheless, I was glad we got to the event early and were able to cruise the food tent in relative comfort. There were eighteen vendors, including the Great Impasta, one of my favorite Italian restaurants, Bangkok Garden, Bombay Mahal, and 111 Maine. There were too many vendors for us to sample all the food offered, but we enjoyed everything we ate. For me, two things stood out: the aforementioned gelato and a chocolate cupcake from 111 Maine. Now, I know that cupcakes might be considered homey, perhaps even humble, cuisine. But this was the cupcake of cupcakes, and I have been thinking about it ever since, about the rich, moist chocolate cake topped by a cream frosting that hovered on the impossible edge of solid and runny and was as near to perfection as any frosting I’ve ever tasted.

The cupcake of cupcakes

For sheer tomfoolery, the wait-staff challenge was an event to behold. Wait staff from various restaurants put on their running shoes, herded willing volunteers from one long starting table all the way to another long table quite a distance away. They dodged orange cones, and once the “guests” were seated, there was a race to see who could deliver water, soup, and pie the fastest. Not surprisingly, water was dumped and food was spilled while spectators cheered the plucky wait staff. And, in a zany way, the challenge honored a group of people who are often overlooked unless something goes wrong.

Waiters, seat your customers...

Don't forget the water...

The Taste of Brunswick is over, but participating restaurants are open for business. For a list of these restaurants and cafés go to http://www.tasteofbrunswick.com/ Many of them are very reasonably priced, and I’m sure I don’t need to remind readers that a local dollar is a dollar well spent.