About the
Taste of Burlington
In March of 2008, Tourism Burlington invited local restaurants to meet with representatives from Tourism, Burlington Downtown and Aldershot Business Community to discuss how to increase awareness of Burlington as a dining and culinary destination.
From that initial meeting it was suggested that a committee be struck to look into the feasibility of offering a Prix Fixe
Dining Program. This type of program has successfully been offered by a number of cities including Toronto (Winterlicious &
Summerlicious), Oakville (part of Fabulous February – Taste of Downtown Oakville), and Bronte (Brontelicious).
Committee members came together from Tourism Burlington, Aldershot BIA, Burlington Downtown and local restaurants to develop and design the program. A Taste of Burlington encourages residents and visitors to dine in one or more of our many dining establishments and enjoy new culinary experiences. The program began in July/August, 2008 with 12 restaurants participating. It has grown with each successive program and in 2009 A Taste of Burlington was offered in the winter and summer with great success.
The winter program had 17 restaurants participate and our summer program grew to 20 restaurants with an increase to
26 participants in the winter of 2010. By increasing our participating restaurants we have been able to offer diners a wider variety of
culinary experiences and cuisines. We also encourage restaurants to offer vegetarian options to make this program accessible
to as many people as possible.
2009-2010 Committee
Catherine Young
Executive Director, Pepperwood Catering & Special Events and Pepperwood Restaurants
Catherine is the 2009-2010 Taste of Burlington Chairperson. Catherine has been with the Pepperwood Group for almost 5 years and oversees all of their catering venues as well as the many community and promotional activities involving Pepperwood. Catherine is an active participate in numerous events that benefit the Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington Art Centre, Beverly Golf & Country Club, Tourism Burlington, Performing Arts Burlington, Drury Lane Theatre, United Way, Rotary, and many other community organizations.
Pepperwood Group includes three local restaurants; Pepperwood Bistro on Lakeshore Road, La Costa Nuova on Brant Street (with the newest concept, Big Tomato on the lower level) and Walkers Fish Market on Harvester Road. All of them participate in A Taste of Burlington and offer special lunch & dinners throughout the promotion.
Linda Cvetanovic
Administrative Assistant, Tourism Burlington
Linda works for Tourism Burlington and prior to that worked as an event coordinator for many sport and community events. Linda has a diverse background and was also part of the Casino Niagara opening team and worked in Human Resources doing communications, events and recognition programs. Tourism is a proud supporter of the Taste of Burlington.
Laura Dobson O'Day
Burlington Downtown Business Association
Laura Dobson-O’Day has been on the organizing/ planning committee for A Taste of Burlington since 2008. Laura is Membership Services Coordinator for the Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA). The BDBA is the Business Improvement Association for Downtown Burlington. The website is www.burlingtondowntown.ca . Laura is also involved with most of the Burlington Downtown office’s events and programming, both internal for-members and for the public. Laura’s work background is marketing-advertising, publications, trade show coordination, and PR, having worked for the BC & Yukon Hotels Association as well as starting up a dining guide for Vancouver called Urban Flavour through Hebdo Inc. Being on the Taste committee brings together a lot of interests. Downtown Burlington has so many ways to contribute to this exciting event and we look forward to seeing it continue to catch on throughout the city and beyond.
Steve Jupp
General Manager, Paradiso
Bill Leslie
Pepperwood Restaurants
Michael Lorinczi
Downtown Bistro & Grill
Barry Michael
Latitude Restaurant
From his initial gig as a waiter, Barry Michael has invested more than 2 decades in the restaurant industry, with restaurants of his own in Toronto, Calgary, Mississauga, Oakville & Burlington. The rest of his family now joins him - 3 daughters, a son, and his wife. The hours in the industry are admittedly long and the competition unrelenting, but an entrenched sociability, relaxation and joy come with the territory too. Focusing on the economy and dining trends and the local food movement, Barry bets the community still hungers after great dining venues and will continue to dine out. Today's customer is interested in great food, great service, a great ambience and VALUE. The Taste of Burlington strives to attain all of the above!
Barb Ruznak
Aldershot BIA Coordinator