Taste Of Newton, And Beyond, In Photos: 25th Anniversary

NEWTON, MA — For a quarter century the Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce has invited local restaurants bars and caterers to come to a community tasting event. This year's event "Spring Seasonings: A Taste of Our Towns" broke a record when it came to number of tickets sold, according to chamber president Greg Riebman. By the day before the event all 600 tickets were sold.

"We have been turning people away all morning," Reibman told Patch hours before the event.

The event was born after Chris Osborn of Better Life Foods and Seana Gaherin of Dunn-Gaherin's saw a concept in California where folks were bringing the restaurants to the people.

"We came back and said 'Hey, Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce we need to do this for one of our fundraisers,'" said Osborn.

It took a while for restaurants to catch on, but it grew from a handful of restaurants to the nearly 50 today and hundreds of visitors stopping by to get a taste of what the area restaurants have to offer.

Last year the event was also sold out, but to only 500 people, because of construction at the hotel, which limited parking. This year's event featured local restaurants from Newton, Needham and neighboring communities in an effort to show them off and help connect businesses and potential customers.

Here is a taste of who showed up (and watch the video at the end):

1. Abbott's Frozen Custard (Needham)

2. Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza (Newton)
3. Bakers Best Catering (Needham)
4. Baramor (Newton) - Opening soon where Terry O'Reilly's was in Newton Centre.

5. Bertucci's (Newton and Needham)
6. Better Life Food Caterer (Newton)

7. Bin Ends wine (Needham)
8. Bokx 109 steakhouse (Newton)
9. Cabot's Ice Cream (Newton) Cabots, of course, has been in town for 50 years. And it's one of the restaurants that have been coming to the chamber event for the past two decades.
   Most popular flavor? "Old fashioned vanilla. It goes with everything," said Joe, who himself is a fan of the coffee heath flavor. Nearly 50 years is a long time: "We see a lot of families bring children to Cabot's who then grow up and get married and bring their own children. So we get a lot of fond memories here," he said.

10. Cappella Restaurant (Needham)
11. Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse (Chestnut Hill)
12. Del Frisco's (Chestnut Hill)
13. District 118 (Newton)
14. Dunn Gaherins (Newton)
15. Fiorella's (Newton)
16. Flatbread Pizza Company (Brighton)
17. French Press Bakery & Cafe (Needham)

18. Hearth Pizzeria (Needham)

19. Hopsters Brewing Company
20. House of Tandoor (Newton) just opened three months ago.

21. Legal Sea Foods (Chestnut Hill)
22. Masala Art
23. Moldova Restaurant (Newton)
24. Nature Springs Water Company
25. Needham Center Fine Wines
26. Needham Sheraton
27. Needham Wine & Spirits
28. Nothing Bundt Cakes (Newton) just opened this year

29. O'Hara's
30. Olvia's Bistro
31. Paddy's Pub
32. Papa Razzi Trattoria
33. Rancatore's Ice Cream and Yogurt

34. Reveler Beverage Company
35. Riverbend at the Newton Marriott
36. Seasons 52
37. Showcase Superlux (Chestnut Hill)

38. Social Restaurant
39. Spiga Ristorante
40. Stop & Shop
41. Tender Greens
42. The BBQ Don Catering (Newton)

43. The Biltmore Bar & Grill
44. The Capital Grille
45. The James Pub and Provisions
46. Upper Falls Liquors
47. WOOPS! Macroons

RELATED: Taste Of Newton To Celebrate 25 Years

Watch the video tour of the event and listen to the stories of a few owners:

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).