Taste of the Beach Archives - Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

OBX Taste of the Beach a Tasty Treat

Bluewater Grill & Raw Bar at the BBQ, Wings Showdown.

We’ve had a lot to say about the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach and now that it’s here and gone, it’s time for a recap.

There is no perfect way to describe everything that happens over the four days of the event—there is just too much happening. Tapas crawls…we were partial to the Kitty Hawk Friday night crawl that featured Russo’s Bistro & Bar, Ocean Boulevard and Coastal Provisions. But that was just one of many.

Wine tasting? Impossible to choose, although Sanctuary vineyards did an amazing job pairing wines with food at a number of events.

So that leaves us with the two major events, the Wings & BBQ Showdown and the Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash, both at the Soundside Event Site in Nags Head.

Our tip if going to either event next year is do not eat breakfast. In fact, maybe restrict caloric intake the day before as well.

The Saturday Showdown featured some great wings, fantastic eastern North Carolina barbecue and melt in your mouth ribs. Tough call on our favorite. We really liked what Coastal Cravings did with their ribs, but the competition was close there was no clear favorite.

Fantastic music by Jonny Waters and Company.

Sunday was as the Grand Tasting and it was grand.

If there was ever any question about the expertise of Outer Banks chefs this one event should put all doubts to rest. There was a wonderful fresh rockfish over a sweet potato soufflé. The Carolina Crab Cocktail Coastal Cravings was serving up was really good. And the list goes on and on.

And of course there were the Champagne cocktails, which were also wonderful.

Tough call all around, so we’ll take the graceful way out and not call out a winner.

Soul One was the music. Loved it.

Summer’s coming! If you have not made your Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates reservations, do it soon for best selection.

30th Annual Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The Outer Banks Marches along the Beach Road

The Annual Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is about as Outer Banks as it gets. Sure it’s also a celebration of all things Irish with lot of green and and all the trimmings.

But really, what the Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is, is the Outer Banks on parade.

Where else could anyone go to see, in the space of two hours, fire trucks, antique cars, marching bands, dogs in St. Patrick’s Day regalia, a trumpet playing unicycle rider who also juggles, local businesses draping a banner over their work vehicles and a few politician thrown in for good measure.

And, of course, a a three-year-old riding in a wagon being towed by an RC truck escorted by dogs.

The weather yesterday for the parade was good. A little chilly, but with bright sunshine it wasn’t bad at all.

Because of some work Nags Head is doing to improve storm drainage in Gallery Row, the parade was a bit shorter than usual, but it didn’t really seem to matter all that much. The crowds lining the Beach Road were as large as always, and to seemed as though there were as many participating as there ever was.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is just one of the big event that happens in March on the Outer Banks. The next big event is the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach, coming up the last weekend in March. That’s Thursday-Sunday, March 28-31.

Outer Banks version of the Taste of the Beach is a must experience part of local life. From Corolla to Manteo and even onto the mainland a little bit, there are food prep demos, wine and beer tastings, great food and really good time.

If you have not reserved you home for the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach, check out what Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates has to offer.

Outer Banks Taste of the Beach Coming Soon

Spring is almost here and that means the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach cannot be far behind.

There are a lot of places that do a “Taste of…” but no one does it as well as the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach.

Think of it as a combination amazing culinary adventure and a tour of the of everything from Corolla to Manteo…with a couple of side trips to the mainland.

The dates have been moved back just a bit this year and the event will be the last weekend in March, beginning or Thursday. The dates are March 28-31.

Hopefully that will get us slightly warmer weather. In the past the ToB has been in the middle of March and weatherize we’ve run the gamut from balmy springtime to nor’easter.

Regardless of the weather, the show must go on.

Since most of the events are indoors, what’s happening outside shouldn’t matter too much There are, however, two outdoor events that will certainly benefit from better weather…although experience has taught us that regardless of the weather the BBQ & Wings Showdown is a lot of fun.

Look for the Showdown at the Nags Head Soundside Event Site from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

One other big event to put on the radar is the Chefs Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash. That also will be held under the tent at the Event Site.

Although it’s outside, the Event Site tents will allow far more room for the what is a grand finale of the weekend. The Grand Tasting has been growing is size and squeezing everyone into one room has become difficult for the restaurants and at time uncomfortable for the guests.

The Chef’s Grand Tasting will be Sunday from 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm.

As the big weekend gets closer, we’ll call out a couple of events that look especially different and interesting.

Be sure to book your home for this very special week with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

2018 Taste of the Beach a Tasty Time on the Outer Banks

Great Food and a Great Time at the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach

Serving seared scallops over grits at the Brewing Station table.

What’s not to love about the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach? It’s all about great food and drink and spending some time with friends and family.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

The Taste of the Beach wrapped up today with the Grand Tasting, which is about as grand a way to finish the premier Outer Banks food event as there could be.

Held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk, the afternoon event featured some pretty remarkable creations from the chefs.

Hard to pick out a favorite with so many outstanding dishes, but one that really stood out was one of the simplest. Well stood out for us—others may have an different opinion, of course.

Sal’s New York Pizza in Kill Devil Hills served a mini sub with their homemade mozzarella. The richness of the cheese seemed to absorb the flavors of the herbs on the sandwich.

The owner mentioned that they make their own mozzarella to insure they have the right cheese for their pizza. That’s dedication.

The Grand Tasting is the big sendoff for the Taste of the Beach, but there were other memorable events as well.

Consistently one of our favorites has been the Chowder Cook-off, which celebrated 10 years of great chowder this year.

Held at Southern Shores Crossing and sponsored by Coastal Provisions, the chowder is consistently excellent with some very innovative recipes.

This year’s winner was Corolla’s North Banks with a lobster, shrimp and corn chowder with applewood smoked bacon. Great balance between the slight smokiness of the bacon and sweetness of the corn. Loaded with seafood, it was a hardy, tasty dish, perfect for a cold March day…which it has been.

But even if it has been a bit cold this weekend, the Taste of the Beach seemed better than ever. Great food, great chefs and a great time. Plan on being here next year.

Outer Banks Taste of the Beach This Weekend

Annual Taste of the Beach a Feast for the Senses

At last year's Chowder Cook-off. — At last year’s Chowder Cook-off.

The Outer Banks Taste of the Beach is not like any other food festival out there. A culinary adventure? Yes, it is. A chance to tour the Outer Banks with a purpose? It certainly is. An opportunity to discover how talented Outer Banks chefs really are? You bet!

From Corolla to Manteo there are events scheduled all day every day now through the Grand Tasting that wraps things up on Sunday. Unfortunately the Grand Tasting is sold out already, but there are still lot of events worth checking out.

Tomorrow it’s the Outer Banks BBQ & Wings Showdown at the Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point—a couple of miles north of the Wright Brothers Memorial Bridge on the Mainland.

The graded of the Taste of the Beach cook-offs though is the 10th Annual Chowder Cookoff that’s sponsored by Coastal Provision in Southern Shores every year. It begins at noon. Bring a really good appetite, and a jacket may be a good idea this year. It’s an outdoor event and no rain in sight, but it may be a bit chilly.

The Taste of the Beach is much more than the big events, which is what makes this such a special time on the Outer Banks.

Lots of wine tasting—and even a few beer tastings. A wine tasting that we have always enjoyed is at Sanctuary Vineyards where they’re hosting “Toast The Coast: A Selection of NC’s Finest Wines & Cheeses.” It’s an all day event every day through Sunday. It’s a great opportunity to try some very well made local wines.

In the morning on Saturday and Sunday, Brooke Mayo is offering “Food in Focus: A Delicious Crash Course in Culinary Photography.” Brooke is one of the finest photographers on the Outer Banks and is married to John Wright, the manager of Sanctuary Vineyards.

The weather is looking a bit on the cool side for the weekend, but there is so much to do that the weather shouldn’t matter that much anyway.

2017 Taste of the Beach Best Yet

A great time and lots to try at the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings Showdown. At the Roosters booth.

Now that was a Taste of the Beach to remember…perfect weather, great food, fun crowds. As the 2017 Outer Banks Taste of the Beach goes into our memory banks, we can look back on it as an example of what happens when things go right.

What Went Right

There’s no doubt that the weather helped this year, but that wasn’t the only reason things went as well as they did.

Sometimes things just seem to fall into place and there’s no clear reason why. 2017 seemed like one of those years.

As writers we tend to focus on the big events—The Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings Showdown, the Chowder Cook-off or the Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash that wraps things up on Sunday.

The Events

In many ways, that’s out of necessity. There are so many great events happening during the Outer Banks Taste of the Week that reporting on all of them—or even a small percent of them—just isn’t possible.

The folks at Sanctuary Vineyards at the Cotton Gin in Jarvisburg always have some great events and this year they added a wine pairing at their new restaurant Thyme & Tide Cafe.

Trio in Kitty Hawk is always a blast with their wine and beer pairings; Wes Stepp at Red Sky had a session talking about his Tastefully Fit. The list goes on and on, but from a writer’s standpoint the best way to give a real feel for what the event is like, is to go to the majors events where 15 or 18 chefs are on hand.

We already talked about the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings Showdown—amazing pork, ribs and wings. We know we ate too much but that was just a warmup for the Chowder Cook-off at Southern Shores Crossing.

A record crowd was on hand and a record number of restaurants. Big kudos to the Taste of the Beach staff for having it so well organized.

The big winner was Stripers with their Corn and Clam Chowder that was the Judge’s and People’s Choice winner. It was excellent, but there were some other ones there that were a very close second.

At the Coastal Cravings table. Coastal Cravings won the Judge's Choice for their Rockfish Ceviche Taco. — At the Coastal Cravings table. Coastal Cravings won the Judge’s Choice for their Rockfish Ceviche Taco.

The Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash at Port O’ Call has become a great way to wrap things up. The chefs pull out all of the stops on their creations, the champagne cocktails are innovative and delicious. What is particularly nice is the organizers made the decisions to divide the day into two sessions. In the past, with one session, at times there wasn’t enough room to move your hand to your mouth to taste the food.

The Grand Tasting is a lot of food to eat—but at least it’s uniformly excellent.

The Judge’s and People’s Choice really seemed to be spot on. The Ceviche rockfish tacos that the Judges liked was perfectly balanced between the mildness of fresh local rockfish and the tartness of the citrus for the ceviche.

The People’s Choice was the Jolly Roger crab cake. Someone commented earlier in the day that it would be nice to have a basic good old fashioned dish. That’s what the crab cakes were.

By all means, look for the Outer Banks 2018 Taste of the Beach next year. It’s four days well spent and the extra time on the exercise bike is worth every moment.

BBQ & Wings-A Joe Lamb, Jr. Favorite Event

Serving up BBQ, ribs and wings at the 2017 Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings Showdown.

Our Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings has the distinction of being our favorite event in the Taste of the Beach, one of our favorite Outer Banks happenings.

Near perfect weather greeted everyone at the Showdown.

Yes the Chowder Cook-off is a lot of fun and the Grand Tasting puts some of the finest chefs anywhere together in one room, but it’s hard to imagine anything more quintessentially North Carolina that barbecue and wings.

And this year the weather gods really smiled on us.

It as nice, too, because the everyone who showed up could take their ribs, barbecue and wings out to the picnic area we had set up and enjoy a perfect Outer Banks spring day.

With Jonny Waters & Company back for a third year pushing out some great country and blues tunes, this seemed about as close to perfection as it gets.

Jonny Waters on drums beating out the rhythm to Santana's “Oye Coma Va." — Jonny Waters on drums beating out the rhythm to Santana’s “Oye Coma Va.”

We’re always cautious about reviewing the food we’re sampling except to say it was all wonderful. That, of course, is the safe way to go—we might think the sliders at Blue Water Grill were the best, but not everyone would agree.

The judges picked Pamlico Jack’s as the best pork BBQ and the People’s Choice award went to Frogman’s BBQ.

The one selection that we agree with and seemed to be fairly universal were the ribs from Simply Southern, just across the Wright Brothers Bridge in Currituck. Big, juicy, succulent smoked ribs. Fantastic.

We had a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work and our Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates crew really stepped up. We also could not have done this with out the help of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau who sponsored the event with us.

Winners

A tough job, but someone has to do it. At the judge’s table.

Judges Award for Best Pork BBQ – Pamlico Jack’s

Judges Award for Best Ribs – Simply Southern Kitchen

Judges Award for Best Wings – Cafe Lachine

People’s Choice Award for Best BBQ – Frogman’s BBQ

People’s Choice Award for Best Ribs – Simply Southern Kitchen

People’s Choice Award fir Best Wings – New York Pizza Pub

Looking Good for Our BBQ & Wing Showdown

Waiting to be eaten. Wings and ribs at the 2016 We just checked the weather forecast for Friday and now there’s no excuse for missing the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wing Showdown.

Weather Is Cooperating for BBQ & Wing Showdown

We just checked the weather forecast for Friday and there’s no excuse for missing the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wing Showdown. Held at the Event Site in Nags Head, the weather is certainly cooperating. The latest forecast calls for sunshine and temperatures in around 60 degrees.

It’s really looking as though the weather gods are smiling on the event this year, although we know from experience that even if it’s a bit chilly or maybe raining little, the show must go on. Of course, with the event under a huge tent, the weather may be an inconvenience but we’ll still have a great time.

The Outer Banks Taste of the Beach is a four day event, Thursday through Sunday, that includes special preparations, multi course dinners, wine and beer tasting and a some major events.

In many ways, the TOB is mini-tour of the Outer Banks with events scheduled from Corolla to Manteo. It’s tough to pick out a favorite with so much happening.

The BBQ & Wings showdown is, of course, our absolute favorite of the weekend, but two other events we have had fun attending in the past is the Chowder Cook-off on Saturday at Southern Shores Crossing and any one of the wine or beer pairings they do at Trio in Kitty Hawk.

That does come with a caveat—we have never had a bad time at any event.

Other Things To Do

There are a couple of other events that may be worth checking out if eating great food and sipping wonderful libations becomes tiresome.

The Outer Banks Forum of the Lively Arts will be presenting Barefoot Movement at the First Flight High School auditorium on Saturday evening. The Barefoot Movement is at the forefront of what is being called nugrass—sort of a new way of thinking about bluegrass.

For theatre goers, check out the Manteo High School’s production of Phantom of the Opera Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The kids consistently do a remarkable job with some very difficult material, so this may be a great one to see.

BBQ & Wings Showdown TOB Highlight

The Annual Outer Banks Taste of the Beach kicks off next weekend and the big event has to be the BBQ and Wings Showdown on Friday, March 24 at the Event Site in Nags Head.

Here at Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates we sponsor the event with the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, so yes, that’s at least part of the reason we think it’s so great. But beyond that after doing this for the past few years, we can honestly say it is a fun, fun event.

A Couple of Hints

Bring a good appetite. With 15 area chefs creating remarkable barbecue and wings, there is a lot to sample. The event starts at noon, so it’s probably a good idea to skip breakfast. Better yet, don’t eat the day before either.

Don’t vote until everything has been sampled. This is easier said than done. Our experience is that somewhere around the 11th or 12th booth, the realization that the consumption of calories is roughly equivalent to two days of feasting takes root. And there’s still more booths to go.

Nonetheless—forge on. This is for posterity, after all.

Take your time. There is no rush. The listed times for the event are 12-3 and that’s plenty of time to try everything.

Other Things to Do

Although the BBQ and Wings Showdown is the highlight of the Taste of the Beach, the event is actually a four day affair beginning on Thursday and ending on Sunday. There is so much to do, we couldn’t possibly list it all here, but by all means, pick out two or three events every day and go have fun.

Two other happenings that have become part of the Taste of the Beach tradition is the Chowder Cook-off on Saturday at Southern Shores Crossing in Southern Shores and the Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash at Port O’ Call in Kill Devil Hills.

The Grand Tasting has become so popular that there are two opportunities to go—noon until 2:00 p.m. and 2:30-4:30.

Major Outer Banks March Events

Scene from last March at the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wing Showdown.

It seems as though the winter is just zipping by here on the Outer Banks. Although, as winters go, it hasn’t been much of one.

But here we are, it’s March already, the days are beginning to feel a bit longer the weather, which has been wonderfully mild, will hopefully stay that way and there are some great events coming up this month on the Outer Bank.

We’re not going to write about all of the March events, but there are a few we want to be sure to mention.

Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Beach Road, Nags Head

March 12

The parade is a bit earlier than usual this year, so be sure to mark the calendar because this is one parade that should not be missed. Mike Kelly has been putting on this parade for over 25 years and it is always fun, whacky and a wonderful celebration of all that’s best about the Outer Banks.

Outer Banks Taste Of The Beach Weekend

Outer Banks

March 23 – March 26

The Taste of the Beach combines two sure-to-please features—great food and a chance to tour the northern Outer Banks.

There are so many events on the schedule that it’s not possible to call all of them out, but we do want to call attention to three in particular, nicely scheduled on three different days so there’s no excuse for not showing up for all three.

The Outer Banks BBQ & Wing Showdown

The Soundside Event Site, Nags Head

March 24

This is our favorite event of the weekend because…well, Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates sponsors it. With the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, we should add.

Nonetheless, this is a fun, fun event with some of the best chefs on the Outer Banks competing to prove they make the best wings and barbecue around.

Helpful hint: Consume no food after midnight of the night before.

Annual OBX Chowder Cookoff

Southern Shores Crossing Shopping Center, Southern Shores

March 25

Going to the Chowder Cookoff is like entering a chowder museum where the exhibits are edible. Very edible.

It is almost impossible to describe how many different ways chowder can be prepared and in the hands of some of the best chef’s on the Outer Banks, it is some good soup.

It is an outdoor event, although Southern Shores Crossing is very protected. Nonetheless, dress accordingly.

Grand Tasting & Bartenders Bubbly Bash

Port ‘o Call Restaurant, Kill Devil Hills

March 26

The Grand Finale and a grand time it is. Don’t miss this one.

Tag: Taste of the Beach