Sweet Charity dessert fest returns after four years, this time to Capitol Market
- Steven Keith
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
New Caffe Romeo close to opening, unique jams take top honors
This week is all about desserts, gelato, pastries, jellies and jams. You better break out the stretchy pants.
After a four-year hiatus, the Sweet Charity dessert festival returns to a new venue at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Capitol Market in Charleston.
Hosted by Faith in Action of the Greater Kanawha Valley, this popular event features both public tastings and a judging competition among nine different bakers or dessert makers, along with an emcee, live music and photo booth.
New this year will be a coffee bar courtesy of Mea Cuppa, a cash bar featuring The Wine Shop and a silent auction for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind “Yes Chef Experience” at 1010 Bridge Restaurant during which James Beard winner Chef Paul Smith with delight the lucky winner and up to three guests with a private dining package valued at $1,000.
That experience will include appetizers for the table, a three-course dinner from the restaurant’s menu, an insider’s tour of the kitchen and exclusive time with the chef himself.
Bidding for the prize is already open and will close at 8:15 pm the night of the event, when the winner will be announced. (Attendance is not required to win.)
As for the dessert competition that evening, contenders Café Appalachia, Chef Ke, Coco’s Kitchen + Café, Edgewood Country Club, Edgewood Summit, Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council, Rainy Day Bakes, Sugar Shenanigans and Sweet Mama’s will all be competing for bragging rights – and serious sugar cred.
In addition to People’s Choice honors, coveted Judges’ Choice Awards for best taste, creativity and presentation will be determined by a trio of seasoned tasters, including former Café Cimino Chef Tim Urbanic, Rock City Cake Company owner Morgan Morrison and … yours truly.
Tickets are $40 per person, which gives you a passport to try every dessert offered. All proceeds benefit Faith in Action, which provides free transportation, shopping assistance, home safety repairs and more to older folks in our community. Please note that children must also have a ticket to receive their own dessert samples.
For more information call 304-881-7253 or visit the event’s Facebook page.
Caffé Romeo close to opening new location
Although it’s taken much longer than expected, owner Mario Sommella says Italian gelateria Caffé Romeo hopes to soon open its new digs behind Paulie’s Fine Italian Restaurant on Bridge Road in Charleston.
“We are very close to finishing up and look forward to seeing everyone in the new shop,” he told me recently.
The shop closed its original location two doors down from Fernbank Public House last December, announcing plans to reopen just down the street in the old Caldwell Insurance offices at 908 Walnut Rd.
Part of the motivation for that move was the ability to expand the previous shop’s gelato, pastry and coffee options to also include authentic baked pastas and side dishes at the new location.
That’s still the plan, Sommella said, although the new location may reopen with the same offerings as before at first, while additional work continues on the renovated space.
“Thank you to everyone who has messaged us, emailed us, stopped by the new location or contacted us in some way,” he said. “As always, we appreciate your continued love, loyalty, and support.”
For more information on an opening date and more details, check out the shop’s Facebook page.
Unusual creations take the cake at Jam Off
I had a really sweet time tasting 23 different (and unique!) jams and jellies at the Jam Off benefiting Make-A-Wish West Virginia held at Capitol Market in late August.
And when I say unique, I am not even kidding.
Along with a watermelon jelly, a pineapple-blueberry jam and an orange-ginger marmalade, we actually sampled a banana jelly, folks.
Those creative entries joined first-place amateur winner Stacy Holstine’s “Homemade by GiGi” Christmas Jam spiced with cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves (it was like a delicious homemade cranberry sauce) and first-place commercial winner Whitney Bolton’s “Up the Holler Goods” Peach Habanero Jam, blending sweet and heat in every delightful bite. Both winners received a $500 cash prize for their efforts.
As for that aforementioned banana jelly, well, it wasn’t my jam.
Although Long Bottom, Ohio, amateur Therese Blair’s creation tasted OK (and I could totally see slathering it on a peanut butter sandwich) I just couldn’t get over its appearance and texture, which reminded me of overripe bananas even though the jelly was a clear yellow.
To each his own though, because that same banana jelly won both the People’s Choice and Wish Kids’ Choice awards at the event, which raised $3,000 for Make-A-Wish, a non-profit organization dedicated to making wishes come true for children diagnosed with critical illnesses.
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at wvfoodguy@aol.com.