Staycation anyone? Taste Washington, pandemic edition, opens to restaurants statewide

The pandemic has canceled a multitude of events, but rather than wait around for normal life to resume, one Washington state festival has overhauled its approach to match the times.

Enter: Taste Washington To Go.

Typically, the annual food and wine festival features high-profile chefs from the upper echelons of the culinary world in Seattle and across the country. They descend upon CenturyLink Field to prepare thousands of small bites of intricate dishes, as guests — who paid around $100 to enter — nibble their way through the day, stopping for sips of red, white and bubbly from hundreds of Washington state wineries. It’s also educational, with seminars and panel discussions as well as wine dinners at celebrated restaurants.

The four-day event won’t happen for the second year in a row because of the pandemic’s continued dampener on large gatherings. Instead, in 2021, everyone can join — from the comfort of their own home.

Restaurants of any style or caliber, from anywhere in Washington state, can participate at no cost, while as a diner, you can look forward to special menus, with suggested wine pairings, available for pre-order and pickup on Wednesdays in March.

The month-long takeout series gives restaurants the flexibility to participate for just one week, two or all five. They can certainly offer the dishes on-site, too, said Kauilani Robinson, director of public relations for Visit Seattle, which runs the Taste with Washington State Wine.

The restaurant and its Wednesday special will be promoted on the Taste Washington website. Diners can search for food in their area, view the menu, and then order directly from the restaurant.

Each week has a theme — casseroles and cabernet sauvignon, for instance, or catch of the day and chardonnay. The themes are flexible, said Robinson, and a weekly newsletter will feature some well-known area chefs’ offerings and recipes.

Take the first week starting March 1: casseroles. Lasagna comes to mind, but it could mean enchiladas, the indulgent French classic cassoulet, maybe even biscuits and gravy — in other words, anything that can go in an oven-safe pan.

The second week, March 8-14, is focused on seafood, followed by barbecue March 15-21. For the latter, don’t get stuck on brisket: You might dig into a hot pot of Japanese yakitori or platter of Mexican barbacoa.

March 22-29 revolves around family recipes, those that tell a story the restaurants can share with guests, tied with food-friendly red blend wines.

In the final iteration, which runs into early April, get ready for noodles and dumplings of any kind. Now there, the possibilities are endless.

By collapsing the barriers to entry and focusing on takeout, Robinson hopes the event will buoy restaurants and hotels into a more hopeful spring.

“We want the largest amount of restaurants to participate than ever before,” said Robinson. In 2019, the event attracted nearly 8,500 visitors to enjoy food and drink made right here in Washington.

“The more the merrier,” she said, noting that the organization has reached out to regional tourism agencies from Bellingham to Spokane, Pierce County to Walla Walla. She hopes the statewide promotion of restaurants and hotels encourages locals to rekindle affections for area restaurants and maybe even plan a “staycation.”

TASTE WASHINGTON 2021

Restaurants can sign up at any time, but Robinson hopes to gather plenty ahead of the March 1 launch. As a diner, you can keep up with the choices by signing up for the newsletter and keeping an eye on local restaurants’ social media feeds.

So far in the South Sound, a few have joined, including Spice Bridge, a food incubator for women of color and immigrants, Famous Dave’s and El Gaucho. The $199 “Iconic Gaucho Menu,” for example, will feature the steakhouse’s signature Caesar salad, a 20-ounce Chateaubriand with three vegetables, and key lime pie for two.

Travel Tacoma-Pierce County sees the open-to-all 2021 event as a win for the region’s hospitality industry.

“Any chance we get to shine a light on the innovation happening in kitchens here in the South Sound, and connect hungry diners with local restaurants, we’re going to take it,” said communication director Matt Wakefield. “Those restaurants need our support. If Taste Washington helps put Pierce County restaurants on the radar of folks in Seattle or Spokane for when they’re traveling again, that’s an opportunity for restaurants, but also for future tourism. We want people planning now what they’re going to see, do and eat later this year.”

Tacoma, Pierce County and South Sound restaurants interested in participating in Taste Washington can register through visitseattle.org.

TASTE WASHINGTON 2021

▪ What: A month-long celebration of Washington state restaurants

▪ When: March 1-April 4

▪ Details: Follow Taste Washington on Facebook and Instagram for updates; full lineup will be posted in late February and updated throughout

This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Staycation anyone? Taste Washington, pandemic edition, opens to restaurants statewide."