No time to have a sit down meal at every restaurant in the Wood River Valley? Fret not, for there is a way to sample the goods all in one place.
The 11th annual Best of the Valley will take place 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 25, in the Forest Service Park in Ketchum. Showcasing the valley's best chefs, caterers, and restaurants, the event will benefit the Hub Youth Center, a privately funded teen recreation center managed by the Blaine County Recreation District in the Community Campus in Hailey.
Participating restaurants include East Avenue Bistor, Rik Lum Catering, Ketchum Grill, CKs, Sawtooth Club, Roosevelt Tavern, Smokey Mountain Pizza, Chester & Jakes, KB's, Omlay, Christina's, Peg Phillips Catering, Globus, Perry's, the Sun Valley Brewing and many, many others.
General admission to the event costs just $8 for adults and $4 for children under 12. Tickets are available at the event and, once inside, food tickets cost only $1 each. The tickets may be used to purchase samples at any of the food booths.
There will also be a silent auction with special baskets put together from different organizations. This year, instead of a standard raffle, there will be a 50/50-money raffle where, should you win, you get half of what's in the raffle, while the other half goes to the Hub. Not bad.
In the kids activity area there will be a bouncy castle, face painting and rock painting and the always popular cake walk with more than 20 different cakes.
The bluegrass band, Public Radio, will provide musical entertainment.
Premier tables for the event are available for those willing to shovel out the dough. Each table seats 10 and costs $850, including tax, unlimited food and beverage tickets, and four bottles of wine. Of that amount, $500 is tax-deductible. Tables can be purchased through the Blaine County Recreation District office in Hailey or call 788-2117.
Dillon Neaman serves up the goods from the Globus tent at last year's Best of the Valley. Photo by Chris Pilaro
