Taste at the Straz is set to return to The Straz in downtown Tampa on April 1. The food tasting event will also have live music, local breweries, and performances by kids from the Patel Conservatory for the Performing Arts. The event will last from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. — or whenever the dance party ends.
What is Taste at the Straz?
The first Taste at the Straz event was to help build a new performing arts center in Tampa. That was in 1985. Since then, funds raised through Taste at the Straz have helped hundreds of youngsters gain entry to classes at the Patel Conservatory for the Performing Arts and spread the arts throughout the Tampa Bay region. This is the performing arts center’s premiere fundraising event, and this year marks its 38th year.
“It is a truly fun event, and it helps us raise essential funds for artistic and arts education programs,” said Nicole Stickeler. She’s director of special events for The Straz. “We have an accredited conservatory and do outreach throughout the community. We have programs that go into several different schools or partnership agencies. Last year we had 42 partnering schools and agencies. We served over 1,500 students with in-person services. We also do some other arts education like with our opera program, where we go to nursing homes and places like that.”
Tickets are already on sale. General admission tickets at $95 and VIP tickets are at $175. Tables for 10 are $2,000.
VIP ticket holders can arrive at 6 p.m. There are four VIP lounges and some special vendors for those ticket holders. General admission ticket holders may enter beginning at 7 p.m.
All those who purchase tickets will have access to all participating restaurant booths and to open bars.
Money raised through Taste at the Straz has funded 326 Patel Conservatory scholarships for students who wish to attend dance, music, or other performing arts classes.
“We also have a pre-professional dance company that puts on our annual Nutcracker every December and a couple of main stage performances. We have a partnership with Metropolitan Ministries and some others.”
“Last year, we raised from this event more than $130,000,” Stickeler said. “Pre-COVID, we had gotten up to $146,000. All things considered, I was very pleased with our results last year. We exceeded our goal, so that was huge.”
Over the 38 years the event has been held, it has raised more than $3 million for Straz Center programs.
Participating restaurants and performances
Every year Taste at the Straz has offerings by some of the area’s finest restaurants. Here are some of the restaurants on the roster for 2023:
- Hew Parlor Chophouse
- The Fenway Hotel
- Thaiamerican
- Elevage Soho Kitchen and Bar
- The Boozy Pig
- Three Daughters Brewery
- Ulele
“We also feature our own restaurant, Maestro’s and have Sally O’Neal’s Pizza, which has participated in this event every year,” Stickeler said. “The event takes over most of our campus. It’s really a fun atmosphere. We also have four stages with live music.”
On stage will feature students from the Patel Conservatory. Keith James will perform in the Morsani lobby and the Orlando-based band, N Fusion will also perform. Classic guitarist Benjamin Pila, whom Stickeler says has an impressive resume, is a new addition this year.
The headliner performance will feature Jinx and Shelby Sol and Friends, who will perform beginning at 10 p.m. and likely keep the place dancing until midnight.
The event runs the gamut on attire, Stickeler said, but most people come dressed casually. General admission ticket holders do not get lounge seating, so they will be walking from one venue to another.
Raymond James has sponsored Taste at the Straz for more than two decades and will again this year. It is billed as a “glorious evening of eating, drinking and indulging in our region’s extraordinary epicurean culture.”
To learn about sponsorship opportunities, call 813-222-1036 or belong@strazcenter.org.