Fundraiser Offers Taste of Boroughs

Visitors will have a 27-course meal in the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough ballroom Sunday night.    

Taste of the Boroughs ’13 will involve 27 eateries from Westborough, Marlborough, Northborough, Hopkinton, Grafton and Hudson, as well as a number of wine distributors arranged by Westborough’s Julio’s Liquors, committee member Dave Crandall says.

Organizers hope to raise $50,000 for the Boroughs Jewish Community Center and Pre-School in Westborough from the event, which includes live and silent auctions, Crandall says.

More than 400 people are expected at the event, which runs from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the hotel. Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door.

“As you walk into the ballroom, you will see in front of you what I call wine gardens. There are pockets of wine gardens, where Julio’s has set up multiple distributors with different wines where you can taste and sample from each one,” Crandall explains.

“Lining the perimeter of the ballroom is every restaurant. So, you can literally start walking down the side of the ballroom and go, “I just went to Bistro Limoncello. Then, I went to Cheng Du. Then I went to Uno.’ If you’ve hit every restaurant, you’ll have more than a meal. This is your best place to try something you’ve never tried.”

The event started 21 years ago as a sit-down dinner and auction, and “originally as a fundraiser strictly for the JCC,” Crandall says.

This is the sixth year in this format. Organizers wanted to “create a more community-focused event,” he says.

“What we realized is we weren’t really engaging the entire community. So we wanted to modify the event to engage the community we’re proud of, the community we’re part of,” Crandall says.

“The attendance 15 years ago were people who were primarily involved in the preschool. Now, the attendance is the community. That really is our favorite aspect of it. It’s a time when everybody in the community can get together and be proud of the things that are going on.”

Nine of the 27 vendors are new to the event this year, including Chef Next Door in Northborough, he says.

“They do takeout prepared meals for those people who want to go workout in the gym. They finish their workout, they pick up their food, they head out. They order before, and have healthy food prepped and ready to go,” Crandall says.

The event also will offer more than 100 auction packages, such as “a guy’s package: it’s got a box of cigars, car detailing, and F-1 racing in Boston,” he says.

And a sports memorabilia auction will feature 35 to 40 items, such as a New England Patriots helmet autographed by the entire team, and a baseball autographed by the entire 2007 Boston Red Sox.

“You sample the restaurants, you taste the wine, you look through the auction packages, and it just becomes a great night of fun,” Crandall says.

“You find out that you don’t need to go to Boston, you don’t need to go to Worcester, to find really, really great food."

The participating eateries are:

• Westborough: Cheng Du, Fruitti Cup, Khatta Mitha, Ming III, Not Your Average Joe's, Papa Gino's, *Sachi Japanese Steak House, Uno's Chicago Grill, *Bagel Bistro.
• Marlborough: Longhorn Steakhouse and Fish Restaurant and Wine Bar.
• Northborough: Bistro Limoncello, *Chef Next Door, CocoBeni Confections, *Zem Han Mediterranean Restaurant.
• Hopkinton: 5 Star Sweets and Rocko's Gourmet.
• Grafton: *Anzio's Brick Oven Pizza, and *Twisted Pretzel.
• Hudson: Horseshoe Pub, and *Rail Trail Flatbread Co.

*= new this year