Today after the show, I jumped in my car and headed out to The Garden in the Union Plaza District downtown to sample the wonderful offerings they’ll be serving at the 2012 Taste of El Paso, happening November 14th and 15th at the El Paso Convention Center.  15 top notch El Paso restaurants, 15 craft beer and wine pairing, and 2 outstanding bakeries - and I'm gonna eat my way through a bunch of them!

 

We were greeted at the door, seated at the bar, and presented with lovely El Paso roll, a Venice roll, and a sinful piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake - a hybrid dessert of moist red velvet cake topped with dense, sweet cheesecake.

*Editor’s note- The Garden will be serving the California Roll at Taste of El Paso, but we sampled the El Paso Roll.

You can tell a fabulous sushi by how it tastes without wasabi or soy sauce.  The Garden's rolls of heaven were filled with crunchy veggies, delicious crab, and topped with salty roe.  Although they were indeed fabu without embellishment, I took advantage of the wasabi and garlic aioli for a little kick!

The Garden Taste of El Paso menu:
California Roll
Venice Roll (pictured)
Red Velvet Cheesecake (pictured)

 

Chef Kenji Shigematsu told me he chose this tasting menu for Taste of El Paso because sushi is 1/3 of The Garden's menu, and he wanted to showcase of the versatility of his sushi chefs.  Kenji told me that The Garden wanted to be a part of Taste of El Paso because he wants our listeners to experience the quality of his ingredients, and a little bit of the ambiance of The Garden.

As I spoke with Kenji, I got to witness firsthand the level of service you get at The Garden.  Lunchtime patrons came in and out, had savory dishes expertly presented, and were on their way back to their days, with full tummies and a little cloud of calm in their crazy work day.  You can get that at The Garden anytime, and you'll get to experience it November 14th and 15th at Taste of El Paso!

More From 93.1 KISS FM