Hartford Taste
Hartford
June 8, 2024
This year’s Hartford Taste festival, billed as a celebration of the city’s cultural heritage and a fundraiser for CT Foodshare, was held for the first time on the red bricktop of Pratt Street and adjacent Trumbull Street. I appreciated the change of venue from the riverfront plaza; although there’s nothing like a cool breeze off the water on a hot summer day, I can do without climbing 30 stairs to get around at the riverfront.
Both streets were packed with vendors, two separate stages with musical performances and of course, hundreds of people trying the various foods on display. It truly was a celebration of the city’s culture, with Jamaican restaurants next to Mexican next to American next to ice cream. There were so many choices that I didn’t know where to start, so I asked the people who were already eating.
First I bumped into Len from Hartford. When I saw him, he was grabbing a flat white latte from Story and Soil’s tent. He had been out earlier going for a run with his group, Eight Six Go. After running through Elizabeth Park, he chose to come grab some food. He got the “Don’t Be a Jerk” plate from RastaRant, which normally operates in the Swift Factory in the city’s North End. He said he loves it when the city does events like this.
A few minutes later I bumped into my mother, who was also out and about to enjoy the festivities. She too had chosen to eat at RastaRant, choosing the jerk chicken, rice and peas, cabbage and plantains.
Next I came across Tooch and Destiny, both of whom are from Hartford. Tooch was holding a tray full of nachos that he’d purchased at Meltdown Grill. He said they were simple but good, with only three ingredients: cheese, ground beef and jalapeno peppers piled on top of tortilla chips.
Destiny had gone to a different Jamaican restaurant, the Jerk Shack, and ordered their jerk chicken.
“I’ll give the food a 7 out of 10. It’s well cooked,” she said. “But the overall experience gets an 8 out of 10 because of the vibe. They were playing good music at their tent, and singing and dancing while serving food.”
I was close to making a decision, but I needed one more opinion in case I wanted some dessert. I managed to get two opinions, from Suad, a traveling health care worker from Minneapolis, and Fi, a Hartford native, who were standing near the Capitol Ice Cream tent.
Suad had chosen coffee flavored ice cream for her frozen treat, while Fi went with the particularly interesting-sounding lemon raisin.
“The ice cream is good, and it’s close to home,” Fi said when I asked her about it. Suad agreed, adding that the event itself was very nice.
Finally I was ready to order. I went with three chicken tacos from Frida Mexican Cuisine because I love Mexican food. The tacos were good and the chicken was flavorful. The orange sauce that came with it was spicy, surprisingly so. It’s hard to find genuinely spicy food, so I made a mental note to check out Frida whenever I had the itch.
Hartford has so much food and culture to offer; the chance to experience it while raising money for a good cause was a double win. The summer is already off to a great start in the capital city.
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