'Top-notch' restaurants put P.E.I. dishes to the test

P.E.I.'s flourishing culinary scene will be on display Friday at the 11th annualTaste Our Island Award Roving Feast.

Eight finalists will prepare signature dishes usinglocally grown food. The dishes will be sampled by 150 people.

The winner is selected by a panel of judges who visited the restaurant beforehand, said event co-ordinatorNancy Willis.

"All the restaurants that become finalists must be excellent, must be top-notchand they must also do an excellent job in buying from local purveyors and promoting local agriculture," she said.

The idea for the Taste Our Island Award Roving Feast came about as a way to promote local agriculture and food, Willis said.

"We have developed such incredible restaurants and chefs here," she said with a nod to the Culinary Institute of Canada.

• The Mill in New Glasgow wins Taste Our Island Award

Willis said they get about 40 restaurants nominated, and the list is whittled down to eight.

Page in visitor's guide

The top prize is a full page in the P.E.I. Visitor's Guide. Willis said three-quarters of the page is used for the winner and the remaining space is used to list the remaining seven finalists.

The event will be held Friday, Sept. 22, at the Charlottetown Hotel. It is part of the Fall Flavours event. Tickets can be purchased on the website.

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