The 9th Annual Flan Festival has given bragging rights to 3 competitive entries in the competitions, “2012 Best Flan in Tampa Bay.” With over 30 varieties of prepared flan on the judge’s plates, it truly was a culinary dessert challenge. The weather was a perfect beautiful spring Ybor City day for this one-of-a-kind annual festival. With judges including New York Food columnist, Taste of Tampa promotions owners, USAmeribank President, last year’s winning flan chef champs, Spanish newspaper and radio personalities, along with myself, had the great job of choosing this year’s winners in traditional and non-traditional tasty flans. There were many handed down recipes. It definitely was a fight to the finish. Flan promoter and Ybor Saturday Market manager Lynn Schultz gave us the basic rules and then went to the eye to eye contestant and flan sampling areas. There were 30 samplings in 2 categories.
Flan-tastic Flan Carries On Tradition
The 9th Annual Flan Festival has given bragging rights to 3 competitive entries in the competitions, “2012 Best Flan in Tampa Bay.” With over 30 varieties of prepared flan on the judge’s plates, it truly was a culinary dessert challenge. The weather was a perfect beautiful spring Ybor City day for this one-of-a-kind annual festival. With judges including New York Food columnist, Taste of Tampa promotions owners, USAmeribank President, last year’s winning flan chef champs, Spanish newspaper and radio personalities, along with myself, had the great job of choosing this year’s winners in traditional and non-traditional tasty flans. There were many handed down recipes. It definitely was a fight to the finish. Flan promoter and Ybor Saturday Market manager Lynn Schultz gave us the basic rules and then went to the eye to eye contestant and flan sampling areas. There were 30 samplings in 2 categories.
I am so happy to say that you have really made it in Ybor City when you are asked to be a judge at the Annual Flan Fest! The winners were:
Traditional: 1st Place-Jenna LoCicero (#10), 2nd Place-Julia Demeza (#2)
Non-Traditional: 1st Place-Miriam Santana (#5), 2nd Place-Angelina Noble (#8)
Presentation: Traditional, Kristine Landry (#5), Non-Traditional, Nancy Gutierrez (#6)
Florida’s “Equality Means Business” Goes to GaYBOR District
Equality Florida, Florida’s largest GLBTA advocate for GLBT rights, had its annual Tampa Gala at the gorgeous iconic Italian Club Theatre in historic Ybor City with over 300 in attendance. A new recognized and awarded category is the “Equality Means Business Award” which is a recognition to the recipients for working together to share equal rights for all in a community or a business. That award went to GaYBOR District Coalition for its hard 4 years work of positive growth and accomplishments in historic Ybor City and Tampa Bay. Accepting the prized honor plaques from Equality Florida Representative Jim Harper were Carrie West, President of GaYBOR District Coalition, Rich Kerin- treasurer, D. Stephen Moss- co-secretary and Mike Olds -Resident Representative.
In attendance were many political leaders including Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, former Tampa Mayors Pam Iorio and Sandy Freedman, Congresswoman Kathy Castor, State Senator Janet Cruz, Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor, past husband and wife Florida Governor candidates Alex Sink and Bill McBride, Tampa City Council members Harry Cohen and Yolie Capin, former Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena and emceeing the night was Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner.
Equality Florida president Nadine Smith honored local Keith Roberts and was given the Individual Voice for Equality Award for helping initiate and lead the fight to passing the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County’s Human Rights Ordinances in the early 1990s.
