Taste of Encino 2011

This year Taste of Encino picked up where it left off two years ago. In between there was the ill-fated excursion to St. Cyril’s where the weather was terrible and they charged an entrance fee. I skipped it, as did most people I know.

There were lots of vendors again this year – more than two years ago although, so far as I could see, not one Encino restaurant. That sort of detracts from the whole “Taste” of Encino thing. I have to assume that all the restaurants were pitched and they turned the Chamber of Commerce down? Maybe there isn’t a simple way for them to sell their food samplers at such a street fair? Hot dogs and smoothies are not the same thing though. Instead there were vendors selling jewelry and apparel, real estate, haircuts, medical services, plastic surgery and massage services, private and charter schools, and there were the familiar slides for the kids. Lots of dogs. You get the idea. Most of the smaller vendors are, I assume, selling their products on the web, or from outside Encino, since very few have a retail presence here. Green companies were almost non-existent. There were even a few politicians, now that Berman and Sherman have to fight it out man to man. We should do redistricting more often.

Still, I wish they would hold it in Genesta Park and adjacent streets, not on Ventura Blvd. Numbers were just ok and the turnover of people coming and going seemed high. I imagine that people walked from one end to the other then left, like we did. It suggests there is not a lot to hold people there. The music in the park seemed the most sticky and that’s because it was pretty high standard, although I saw no presence of the traditional folk club musicians this year. All in all, a decent effort but until the restaurants come back, it won’t be Taste of Encino; more like Vendors of the San Fernando Valley. Oddest of all, I saw no presence of Encino Neighborhood Council (Tarzana’s was there), nor the Encino Community Center.