Parkway Plaza is hosting Taste for the Space, its first-ever culinary competition in October which will allow local restaurants, food trucks and culinary professionals to compete for an eatery space at the shopping center.
Parkway Plaza Marketing and Business Development Manager Petra Rich said Parkway is recruiting up to 10 chefs, food trucks, catering businesses, and any inspiring culinary professionals to come out to Parkway Plaza and compete. She said it will hold the one-day food-styled festival event on Oct. 15 from noon to 5 p.m.
“Those operators will get to come out, set up booths in our parking lot,” she said. “We will have a big tent set up, and each operator will have their separate tent and serving one of their signature dishes in order to hopefully win the public vote, so they have the opportunity to win three months free rent and a $20,000 business investment to open up in one of our vacant restaurant spaces in the mall.”
Local businesses interested in competing can apply on Parkway Plaza’s website, now through Aug. 27. Contestants will be announced on Sept. 1.
Rich said this is a trademark event for Parkway Plaza management, Pacific Retail Capital Partners, across the country, with the most recent event in Canton, Ohio.
“The event was such a success and been such a success at all the other properties, when we were thinking of what we could do here this year at Parkway Plaza to support the community while helping us reach our goals, I said, ‘We have such a vibrant food truck community here, and if I dig into the number of caterers, why would we not have Taste for a Space here?’” said Rich. “It made perfect sense for us to be able to give back to the community.”
Rich said another fun element with this one-day food fest event is that it will be a ticketed event, sold in advance, and all proceeds will be donated to Kitchens for Good.
“We are really excited to be able to work with them,” she said. “As an organization, this is essentially what they do. Creating pipelines for culinary professionals to be able to move through and establish themselves in that field and potentially become entrepreneurs. We are really excited
to help these culinary specialists along with supporting this amazing organization.”
Rich said tickets will be sold on Eventbrite beginning in September and all the information will be at Parkway Plaza’s website and social media platforms.
For more information on Taste for the Space or how to apply visit: www.visitparkwayplaza.com/taste4space/
