Hundreds Come Out for a Taste of Montclair

The sundry flavors of the township’s plentiful restaurant scene were on display at the Rotary Club’s Taste of Montclair on Monday night. 

The gastronomical fete featured more than 30 restaurants and food vendors, who laid out bite-sized portions of their signature dishes in University Hall of Montclair State University. 

As Roberta Claps, of Glen Ridge, passed by French, Italian, Greek, Japanese and Ethiopian restaurants, she said she was her way back to Salugo Pizzeria for seconds of risotto arancini, miniature rice balls with mozzarella and pancetta. While Claps said she didn’t attend the tasting event last year, she would surely be back in 2014. 

“We enjoy good food and we wanted to support the Rotary and the town,” said Claps. 

A few tables down, Darren Daniolowicz, of Hogwild BBQ Company, was serving people tender pulled pork from a whole pig, smoked especially for the event. The only decision people had to make was whether they wanted sweet or tangy barbecue sauce to go with it.

The event is the Rotary Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year, said Co-Chair John Deermount. The banquet of hors d’oeuvres will be followed by Restaurant Week, running from Tuesday through April 21, which will also be a fundraiser for food charities in town. [A full list of participating restaurants can be found by clicking here.]

Co-Chair Diane Lilli said 100 percent of the proceeds from the event go toward locally-based not-for-profit food pantries and charities: Montclair Human Needs Food Pantry, Toni’s Kitchen, the Salvation Army Montclair Citadel and others.

Last year, the event raised more than $25,000. With nearly 500 tickets sold on Monday, Lilli said the Rotary Club was well on its way to surpassing the previous year’s total. 

“The whole point is for serving the community,” said Lilli. “People in the surrounding towns support it. We love diversity — you can see it in the food — and it is something to be proud of and embrace.”