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Chefs give Taste of Rim Country
a healthy twist
Payson Roundup
By Michele Nelson
March 7, 2012
For those who thought restaurants in the Rim Country
only served meat and potatoes, the 2012 Taste of the
Rim fund-raiser for the Payson Public Library
offered pleasant surprises.
“This year we have more chefs with more selections,”
said Bessie Tucker, reference librarian and chair of
the event.
Feeding people these days is fraught with peril,
with so many suffering from food allergies,
intolerances, health issues or lifestyle choices.
The 250 guests at the Taste of the Rim event learned
that in Payson, restaurants offer several options to
make the dining experience pleasurable — and
possible.
Going gluten free? It’s available.
Sugar free? No problem.
Lactose intolerant? Got that covered.
Vegetarian or vegan? They’ll cater to your
preference.
Tucker said when she had mentioned she had gone
gluten free, participating restaurants surprised her
by saying they planned on serving gluten, sugar and
lactose free alternatives.
The goal of the Au Natural Cafe restaurant is to
serve delicious food that also has dense nutritional
value. Each day, Chef Kevin Ritter and Cindy Bryant,
the nutritionist/owner, consult to maximize the
dining experience from taste to health.
Said Bryant, “We practice Hippocrates philosophy:
‘Use food as your medicine and your medicine as your
food.’”
At Taste of the Rim, Ritter served an oriental take
on fried rice; except he used the nutritionally
dense grain Quinoa and non-GMO, pesticide, chemical
and hormone free turkey and vegetables.
The cafe also served their famous black bean brownie
sweetened with agave nectar and smothered in either
a blueberry or raspberry sauce.
Who knew healthy could be so delicious?
At Laura’s Small Cafe and Vita-Mart’s station, the
two owners showed off how they partner to create
healthy alternatives they can offer between them.
“I use Laura’s kitchen to create soups and then
offer the soup, ingredients and recipes in
Vita-Mart,” said owner Christine Bollier.
“I use the ingredients Christine sells to make
whatever the customer needs,” said Laura Seeley
owner and chef at the Small Cafe. If a customer
asks, the cafe will serve gluten free pancakes,
French toast, sandwiches or prepare any food
separately from others to avoid any food allergies.
During the event, the two served chicken dumplings
with Parmesan crisp and a garden vegetable tomato
soup with an apple-cheddar sourdough muffin.
Besides healthy foods, restaurants offered unique
flavors such as Ayothaya Cafe, the Thai restaurant.
They served a slightly spicy beef and pork dish
along with their Chicken Paradise and cucumber
sushi.
Susie Watson from Rim Country Jams served berry and
plum jams infused with chipotle and exotic Turkish
spices.
“My husband is a firefighter and loves spicy foods,”
said Watson describing what inspired her creations.
The Payson High School culinary arts students had an
international flare, serving bread sticks with an
herbed olive oil, jalapeno poppers, and a Thai
dessert of coconut ice cream and fried bananas.
Cardo’s Pizza and Italian food served their famous
pizza, while Gerardo’s Firewood Cafe had beautiful
cups filled with tiramisu.
For those looking for the classic meat and potatoes
dining experience, the Creekside Steakhouse and
Tavern station served ribs, their famous Creekside
salad and a dessert.
One guest raved about their classic fare: “I gotta
tell you, the ribs and crumb cake are just awesome,”
he said to Carol Hiscox of the tavern.
“We aim to please,” she replied.
The Landmark at Christopher Creek served both a
chicken pot pie and beef stew with biscuit. The
pickles had a bite from horseradish.
Barbara Frazub-O’Conner the chef from the Randall
House served a salad nicoise, and an appetizer with
hummus, baba ganoush, and olive tapenade. Known for
its delicious baked goods, the restaurant served a
lemon poppy seed muffin and chili-chocolate cupcake.
The Mazatzal Casino bakery also attended. The bakers
offered racks of desserts.
For drinks, the members of the Friends of the
Library donated multiple types of wines.
Not many could eat every offering from each
restaurant, but many tried.
The event typically nets $6,000 to $9,000 for the
library.
“This event puts books on the shelves,” said Tucker.
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