FLORENCE RESTAURANT WEEK 2015 NOMINATION PHASEFlorence Main StreetFlorence, AL – March 25 – Between April 1 and April 24, Florence Main Street wants you to nominate your favorite charity for the opportunity to win a $5,000 check. Last year during Florence Restaurant Week, Presenting Sponsor McDaniel Window & Door owner Mike McDaniel presented the $5000 winning charity check to SafePlace, Inc and he’s looking forward to making another charity very happy this year.“Presenting the $5000 check to SafePlace was not only an honor, but a privilege for myself and staff. It was exciting to see our local businesses thriving, while our community came together to raise awareness for so many wonderful charities. McDaniel Window & Door is excited to be the Presenting Sponsor again for 2015 Florence Restaurant Week, and I personally challenge all our local businesses to get involved and support this great event,” said owner, Mike McDaniel.Selected from the community’s nominations, five charities will be placed on a ballot for guests dining at participating restaurants during Florence Restaurant Week in May. Tuesday, April 1 through Friday, April 24th, nominate your favorite charity and tell us why they deserve this prize. (To be considered, a charity must be a designated 501c(3) organization with the state of Alabama and have an office in the Shoals.) The three most nominated charities will automatically be included on the ballot, and Florence Main Street will choose two wild-card charities based on input from our Presenting Sponsor, number of nominations, impact on our community, and other factors. SafePlace of the Shoals will be excluded from this years’ nomination phase because they were the winners of Florence Restaurant Week 2014.You can nominate your favorite charity four ways. Florence Main Street will have a poll on our Facebook page, on McDaniel Window & Door’s Facebook page, and on our website (www.dineoutflorence.com) or you can mail in your nomination. If you choose to mail in a nomination please include these items:Your First and Last NameYour Email addressName of CharityWhy you are nominating the charity?Name of Executive Director at the charity.Contact info for the charity. (Address & Phone Number)Then, from May 8-16, Florence Main Street will host Florence Restaurant Week 2015. Ballots will be available at participating restaurants. Every time you eat at a participating restaurant during Florence Restaurant Week, you will have the opportunity to vote for one of our five local charities. Every time you eat, you get to vote! Florence Restaurant Week is not only a showcase of our best local eateries, but it will also help to shine the light on some of our best local charities. The charity with the most votes at the end of the week will walk away with a check for $5,000 that will be used to do good work right here in the Shoals.Mark your calendars now for FLORENCE RESTAURANT WEEK–May 8-16, 2015! And please, help us do good where it counts by nominating YOUR favorite charity today!Participating Restaurants: Bookmarks Coffee Shop (inside the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library), Sperry’s, Wildwood Tavern, The Pie Factory, Singin’ River Brewery, Rivertown Coffee Company, Flobama Music Hall, Odette, Imagine That Bakery & Café, Legends Steakhouse, On the Rocks, Trowbridges, City Hardware, Ricatoni’s Italian Grill and more.Make sure to join the Facebook event and invite your friends to follow along with all things about Restaurant Week. Click here!Florence Main Street, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated of working with business owners, community leaders, and residents toward the common goal of revitalizing Downtown Florence culturally and economically. For more information about us or any of these efforts, please contact Florence Main Street at 256-760-9648 or info@florencemainstreet.org ###
Florence Foodies 2015
Do you love downtown Florence’s unique restaurants and the surprising and delicious menus you find there? Florence Main Street is again shining the spotlight on Florence’s downtown dining revolution with the 2015 Florence Foodies series. Florence Foodies is a unique social dining experience with an exclusive menu that features dishes not seen before on a restaurant’s regular year round menu. Think ‘supper club’ at home grown restaurants with special menus and a rotating cast of new friends. You’re going to want to be a part of this year long event!
Florence Main Street began the Florence Foodie series in 2013 featuring eight restaurants and it quickly exploded within the dining environment of the Shoals. The Foodies series restaurant hops to different downtown eateries each month from March thru November. The 2015 Foodies schedule is amazing and a delicious experience is in store for attendees including new guest speakers and dishes to tantalize your taste buds!
“I think it’s safe to say that the Florence Foodies series was at the forefront of the local food scene. Folks had their favorite places to dine but Foodies opened them up to so many more. Our restaurants saw new faces become regular diners because of Foodies,” said Teryl Shields, Executive Director of Florence Main Street.
New for 2015 is a special event featuring Chef Alan Phillips of the Red Clay Epicurean. Chef Phillips, a native of the Shoals, graduated first in his class at Le Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts. After working 10 years in the food industry in Los Angeles, he returned home to start his own company, where he takes the food cultures of the American South and puts his special twist on them. He is hosting the September Foodies special event featuring only products from Jack O’ Lantern Farms of downtown Florence. This will be the special foodie event of the year and is not to be missed.
“It was not hard to convince Chef Phillips to join the foodie program because he loves a challenge to wow people with different tastes and textures of food locals haven’t seen before. So naturally Chef Phillips jumped to the opportunity of working with Main Street. His mission with this event is to show why people should buy from the only hydroponic farm, Jack O’ Lantern Farm, in the shoals,” said Christina Dorough, Event Coordinator of Florence Main Street.The participating restaurants for the 2015 Florence Foodies series are Wildwood Tavern, Sperry’s Restaurant, City Hardware, Odette, Imagine That Bakery & Café, Dish Gourmet Café, The Pie Factory, and Rivertown Coffee Company.
Tickets for Florence Foodies will be available online for purchase at the Florence Main Street website, www.florencemainstreet.org/store/florence-foodies, including individual and full season tickets by Monday, January 16th. The special event tickets will be available on July 1, 2015.
“Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to dine with the best and most creative chefs in downtown Florence. This is a great opportunity to become aware of what's going on in our wonderful downtown restaurants. As a Florence Foodie you will get sneak previews of dishes that may be included on the menus in the future. The chefs go all out to display their creativity for the Florence Foodies and to WOW us with their new dishes. In addition to all this is the opportunity to meet other local foodie folks and to make new friends. As an experienced Florence Foodie, I highly recommend that you come join us for the 2015 dining experience, “ commented Dave & Debra Reasons, 2014 Florence Foodies season ticket holders and originator of The Brown Bag Review blog.
Florence Main Street, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to working with downtown business owners, community leaders, and residents toward the common goal of revitalizing Downtown Florence culturally and economically. For more information about us or any of these efforts, please contact Florence Main Street at 256-760-9648 or info@florencemainstreet.org
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2014 Florence Restaurant Week Press Release
Florence, AL – March 10, 2014 – Between April 1 and April 25, Florence Main Street wants you to nominate your favorite charity to win a $5,000 charity check from our Presenting Sponsor McDaniel Window & Door Company during Florence Restaurant Week.
From your nominations, five charities will be included on a ballot that diners will be able to vote on at participating restaurants during Florence Restaurant Week. Tuesday, April 1 through Friday, April 25th, nominate your favorite charity and tell us why they deserve $5,000. (To be considered, a charity must be a designated 501c(3) organization with the state of Alabama and have an office in the Shoals.) The three most nominated charities will automatically be included on the ballot, and Florence Main Street will choose two wild-card charities based on number of nominations, impact on our community, and other factors.You can nominate your favorite charity three ways. Florence Main Street will have a poll on our Facebook page, on our website or you can mail in your nomination. If you choose to mail in please include these items:First and Last NameEmail addressWhy you are nominating the charity?Contact information for charity.Then, from May 9-17, Florence Main Street will be hosting Florence Restaurant Week, and ballots with the five chosen charities will be available at participating restaurants. Every time you eat at a participating restaurants during Florence Restaurant Week, you will have the opportunity to vote for one of our five local charities. Every time you eat, you get to vote! Florence Restaurant Week is not only a showcase of our best local eateries, but it will also help to shine the light on some of our best local charities. The charity with the most votes at the end of the week will walk away with a check for $5,000 from our Presenting Sponsor McDaniel Window & Door Company–money that will be used to do good work right here in Florence. Mark your calendars now for FLORENCE RESTAURANT WEEK–May 9-17, 2014! And please, help us do good where it counts by nominating YOUR favorite charity today!