Crowd waits for tickets at the Saint Marco Italian Food Festival
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Food & Festivals: Saint Marco Italian Food Festival

a crowd of people stands in line at a tent with a sign reading "tickets sold here"

I love Italian food.

It seems odd because the closest my family blood line comes to Italy is my great-grandfather’s short stay during his deployment in World War I.

But my love of pasta, tomato sauce and Italian food of all kinds is unquestioned.

And it is with that appetite that I look forward to the first weekend of August and the annual St. Marco Italian Food Festival.

For more than 80 years, the Saint Marco Society has been a gathering place where Italian-Americans preserve their Old World food and culture. And for two days each year, their headquarters in Temple becomes a gathering place for people of all backgrounds to come experience the culinary delights of Italy, including their famous lasagna.

white disposable plate with 13 layer meat lasagna topped with sauce and Parmesan cheese

I cannot fathom how many pans of lasagna (both meat and cheese filled) the servers go through over the course of a weekend, but it seems like there is a continuous line for 48 hours. And for good reason.

The paper-thin pasta is piled high (I counted at least 10 layers ) and topped with the smoothest tomato sauce I have ever seen. It ladles on like a thick soup, drowning the lasagna while creating a small moat around it.

Everything about the lasagna is outstanding, which is why my wife has had one every year since we started attending the festival five years ago.

But there are other delicious options as well, including my personal favorite, the porchetta sandwich.

top lifted off a bun to show roast pork and broccoli rabe

Slow-roasted, juicy pork heaped on a kaiser roll and (for a well-spent extra dollar) topped with broccoli rabe, the sandwich is everything Philly pork sandwiches strive to be. The pork absorbs so much flavor from the seasonings its cooked in, and the broccoli rabe adds just a hint of bitterness to make a sandwich that I never want to put down.

There are plenty of other options including meatball sandwiches, crispelles (fried dough with or without meat) and, ironically enough, French fries.

And then there are the desserts, which include homemade biscotti, pizzelles and for those who crave something creamy, gelato.

two small plastic cups with scoops of gelato - one cannoli favored, the other berries

At first glance, three dollars seems like a lot to pay for a small cup of dessert, but the gelato is very filling, especially after such a big dinner. I decided to try the mixed berry while my wife opted for chocolate chip (chocolate and mocha are also on the menu). There were whole berries (blueberries, I think, though it was hard to tell while frozen) mixed in with my rich scoops while the chocolate chips were mixed in with a creamy vanilla base in my wife’s.

teams play bocce on an elevated court as a handful of spectators hang over a short fence to watch

While we enjoyed our dessert, we ventured around to the opposite side of the building to take in a little of the action on the bocce courts. The tournament seems to have quite a following of its own with lawn chairs surrounding the perimeter and only a few small spaces to stand around the fence.

The Saint Marco Italian Food Festival is one of my favorite food events each year. Even as someone who cannot identify with Italian culture, I certainly identify with delicious food.

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Food & Festivals: Food Truck Festival at VF Outlet Center

This event is no longer held, but there are plenty of food truck festivals to be found in Berks County. Check out our Food Truck page for more information.

Meals on wheels took on a whole new meaning on Saturday, June 28, during the annual Food Truck Festival at the VF Outlet Center in Wyomissing.

Ten gourmet food trucks from around the region parked outside the Designer Place building to serve festival-goers with internationally inspired dishes.

Big Chipper’s BBQ, Gourmand, Just Jackie’s Food Truck, KAMI Cart, Kino’s Tacos, MAD Sandwiches, Mr. Softie, Smudge Smokehouse, the Chicken Truck and the Perk Up Truck were serving their unique dishes to the hungry masses.

The event was supposed to include a meatball cook-off, but a “cancelled” sign was set up in its place. It was disappointing, but there was still plenty of other foods to try.

I decided to wait out the line at MAD Sandwiches after seeing a sign for their intriguing Latino Parfait. Served in a bowl,  the dish consisted of layers of beans, rice, pork and Argentinian Chimichurri sauce.

mad-sandwiches-latino-parfait

The pork was cooked perfectly and well-seasoned. On its own, the Chimichurri sauce tasted a little too much like mustard when eaten on its own, but mixed with the remaining ingredients, it created a delicious, full-flavored dish that would be a welcome addition on any restaurant’s menu.

smudge-smokehouse

Smudge Smokehouse caught the attention of my wife so she waited in a long line to try one of their barbecue specialties: brisket tacos.

smudge-smokehouse-brisket-taco

In addition to the standard lettuce, the taco was topped with mango salsa and chipotle cream sauce. The brisket picked up a nice smokey flavor, and that smokiness blended perfectly with the sweetness of the mango and the slight spice of the sauce to create a well-balanced dish.

the-perk-up-truck

For dessert, we decided to split a smoothie from the Perk Up Truck. And though we could have combined any number of flavors, we settled on a simple banana smoothie topped with a heavy dose of whipped cream.

the-perk-up-truck-banana-smoothie

A mix of bananas, milk, sugar and ice, the smoothie was basically a milkshake without the ice cream. It was a nice, sweet treat, especially on such hot afternoon.

In the end, there were just too many food trucks and not enough room in my stomach to try something from all of them.

But that just means I get to try something new at next year’s festival.

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Food & Festivals: Centre Park Gourmet Garden Tour

Editor’s Note: The format of the Centre Park Garden Tour has changed and no longer includes food samples at every stop.

Last Saturday, the owners of some of Reading’s most beautiful properties opened the gates for the Centre Park Gourmet Garden Tour.

The annual event showcases Reading’s Centre Park Historic District, and the unique landscaping found in the city’s hidden backyard getaways.

And while my wife was gathering ideas for our own gardens, I was enjoying free samples from some of the area’s best eateries as five Berks County food vendors were offering free samples to tour-goers.

grilled hamburger and a slice of apple streudel

We started our self-guided tour with a stop at the Feeney Funeral, which is actually a beautiful century-old mansion along North 4th Street. No restaurants were on site, but there were hamburgers on the grill and some excellent apple strudel for dessert.

Garden-tour-1Aayshiyana

After a short walk to Oley Street, we encountered a low-maintenance lawn made up entirely of AstroTurf. As intriguing as the faux grass was, the samples from Reading’s Aashiyana Indian Cuisine were the real stars. Along with some very flavorful rice, Aashiyana brought along chicken makhan walla and khum matter paneer.

The former was a delicious chicken served in a soupy tomato gravy while the latter was a flavorful combination of cottage cheese, green peas and mushroom cooked in cashew sauce and tomato gravy. Both were loaded with traditional Indian spices, but the vegetable dish had a little more kick.

garden-tour-2sofrito-pork-rice-guava-bbq

From India to the West Indies, our next tour stop featured the Latin flavors of Reading’s Sofrito Gastro Pub. The pulled pork was tender and moist, and topped with an unexpectedly sweet guava barbecue sauce. I only wish I could have had more than the small spoonful that was dripped atop.

say-cheese

The next stop offered a quaint backyard that was too small for a food tasting. Instead, West Reading’s Say Cheese! was set up in the next garden just a few doors down. Unfortunately, the restaurant brought only simple tortilla chips and Triscuit and a few cheese cubes. When asked what kind of cheese was on the table, the young man helping responded, “if Say Cheese! were here, they would probably have a fancy name for it, but I call it Swiss.”

garden-tour12Vietnamese-Delights

Following the disappointment of the cheese, we wandered to Windsor Street to one of the larger gardens on the tour. It also happened to have one of the better food vendors as Vietnamese Delights, a stand at the Boscov’s Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market, was handing out chicken cabbage salad and a vegetable spring roll. The spring roll was exceptionally good thanks to a generous portion of bean curd and a tasty peanut dipping sauce.

garden-tour-6garden-tour-8

The last residential garden on the tour was the most unique, as we were carried away like Alice to Wonderland, complete with the full tea party and Cheshire Cat grin. The lemonade and Lorna Doones being served may not have been gourmet, but this was one stop where the garden was actually the star.

hendel-house

From here, there were two remaining stops, the Hendel House, a mansion owned and operated by the Berks County Historical Society, and the soon-to-open Inn at Centre Park. The two beautiful buildings along Centre Avenue were open for touring, with the Inn’s spacious backyard hosting the Terrapin Trio folk rock band, as well as samples from Food of the Mediterranean.

inn-at-centre-parkFoods-of-the-Mediterranean

Mediterranean Delights, another Fairgrounds Farmers Market stand, served two hummus options, a mild and a spicy, as well as artichokes, chickpeas, and a feta and olive salad. The spicy hummus was a hit, especially with the artichokes, but after having that, the chickpeas seemed redundant.

The Centre Park Gourmet Garden Tour is one of my favorite events every year because the organizers are able to bring in a world of flavors from popular local eateries while showcasing a side of Reading that those of us in the suburbs rarely get to see. And the $25 for tickets ($23 if you order in advance) goes toward preserving this beautiful neighborhood.

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Food & Festivals: Kempton Pepper Jam

tents in the field of the Kempton Pepper Jam

Editor’s Note: The last Pepper Jam, then known as Berks Pepper Jam, occured in 2022.

Kempton, PA is about as far removed from Reading as one can get in Berks County. Not only is it just a stone’s throw from the Lehigh County line, but it is one of the smallest communities in the county.

Yet the village of just 169 residents has become a destination. The Kempton Music Center, along with the surrounding Kempton Community Center, hosts many popular events including the Kempton Country Fair and the Pinnacle Jam.

On May 24 and 25, the Kempton Pepper Jam made its debut and became an instant success.

With food vendors from near and far descending on the hills of northern Berks County, I couldn’t miss a chance to feel the heat.

hand-painted sign with an anamorphic chile pepper and the words "Penelope Pepper Welcome to the Pepper Jam"

Penelope Pepper was one of the many hand-painted peppers that greeted the happy heat seekers. The Americana sounds of the Youngers echoed throughout the fairgrounds where dozens of vendors were set-up with a variety of pepper-infused foods and drinks.

The hot food options were a little limited, but everything was quality. Big Chippers BBQ had pit beef and pulled pork and there were stands serving Cajun fries, hot pepper sandwiches and hamburgers.

But with the event being promoted by the Penn Werner Hotel, I figured their stand was the logical place to start. Thankfully, they had one word on the menu that makes me happier than just about any other: sampler.

As a food blogger, there is nothing better than a sampler platter, and this one featured three excellent dishes: jambalaya, Thai chicken on a stick and noodles in peanut sauce.

plate with a chicken skewer, rice and noodles in Thai sauce.

Everything tastes better when it’s served on a stick, at least that’s my theory. The chicken was good, but was not nearly as spicy as I was expecting from a Thai sauce. Instead, my wife’s jerk chicken on a stick packed a lot more punch. The hottest thing on my plate was, ironically, the cold noodles in peanut sauce.

As an old Dutchy, I like my noodles served hot, but these were delicious. The peanut sauce had enough peanut to get the flavor, but not too much that it turned into peanut butter. There was definitely an aftershock from the heat. Thankfully, the jambalaya was there to cleanse the palate. The jambalaya was fairly mild, but still delicious, starting with a very flavorful mild sausage as the base.

sign above a tent that reads "Sloppy 2nds BBQ Sauce"

Following lunch, I headed out among the vendors in search of fire. I started my journey at the Sloppy 2nd BBQ Sauce stand. My favorite of the sauces from this Barto, PA company had to be the peach bourbon sauce, which had a mix of smokey and sweet with a little bit of heat for good measure. It was by far the best sauce that I tasted at the event.

Some of the other highlights at the festival included Saint Lucipher, whose hot spice rub was tossed on popcorn to give just a hint of the heat. Cactus Pete’s Jerky had a range of beef jerky flavors that went from sweet to hot, including the delicious, mouth-drying Jamaican Me Crazy blend.

Old mail cart holding various flower pots in front of a small diesel engine

The event was also family friendly, with kids craft and game stations, and train rides available on the neighboring Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad.

My only regret was missing out on the pepper eating contest…not that I am brave enough to enter myself, but there’s nothing wrong with watching others suffer.

It was great to see the event be such a success in its first year. Here’s hoping that the 2015 Kempton Pepper Jam is bigger and better than the first. Though I don’t know if it could get much hotter.

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