Taste of Downtown draws hungry crowd

Thunder rumbled in the east late Saturday afternoon as the young musicians of the Hyde Street Swing Section set up their equipment on the lawn of the Paul Laxalt Building.

The band was preparing for their second appearance at the Taste of Downtown, the annual progressive dinner fund-raiser for Advocates Against Domestic Violence.

At their performance at the event last year, the Hyde Street Swing Section was voted the favorite music group by attendees. That entitled the band to claim the most prestigious spot this year, on Third Street between Pop's BBQ and Casa Del Rio. But the folks at Java Joe's paid for the Hyde Street Swing Section's performance this year, so the band's venue was again on Telegraph Street.

Taste of Downtown has good to Advocates - the 1,000 $25 tickets were sold out in advance.

Downtown restaurants like Garibaldi's set up right outside. The Italian restaurant, like other participants, used the event to promote its menu by feeding wonton-wrapped prawn and crab and Indonesian soy-dipped cauliflower to attendees.

Up-scale eateries like Adele's and Glen Eagles put their catering talents to work by setting up small propane-fired kitchens downtown to prepare their treats.

One new participant was Juicy's, which rented a grill and fryer to prepare burgers, hot dogs, onion rings and deep-fried zucchini.

"Everything would be going just fine if we could keep the grill lit," Juicy's owner Carla Price said.

Despite the winds that threatened an evening summer rainstorm, hungry ticket holders lined up for a half block at many of the booths by 6 p.m.

A red motor trolley from the Storey County Red Line was added to the Taste this year, making three stops along Carson Street to make the hike between food booths and bands a little easier.

Another new participant was Red's Old 395 Grill at Tenth and Carson streets. But the featured entertainment there was Eddie and the Cruisers, which has been a regular band at the Taste for years under a couple of names, including Still Cruisin'.

Though the paying attendees were the only ones to get a real taste of the food, one of the attractions of the event is that the performance by nine bands is open to everyone, so the event has become a progressive street dance, too.