Hospitality students plan Fourth Annual Food and Wine Festival
This article appeared in the Feb. 13 issue of The Spectrum, but had factual discrepancies. Here is the article again, with the correct information included.
Students in the hospitality and tourism major showcased their skills Thursday night at NDSU’s 4th Annual Food and Wine Festival.
Area restaurants such as the Dakota Grill, Josie’s Corner, Basie’s on 42nd, the Barnstormer, Life is Sweet and NDSU Dining Service served food samples and Happy Harry’s Bottle Shop provided ten different wines for guests to sample.
Guests could also listen to live acoustic music while they dined.
A silent auction allowed guests to bid on dinners at restaurants such as Ruby Tuesday and Dakota Grill, a free night at Candlewood Suites, a bottle of North Dakota rhubarb wine, and a portable CD player.
Proceeds from the auction and from tickets to the event go to the Hospitality Students Association and helps fund educational trips for hospitality and tourism majors.
The purpose of the event was to give hospitality and tourism students a chance to practice the skills they learn in class as well as to promote area businesses who may not have as much advertising as chain restaurants.
Nikki Harris, who helped plan the event with Chris Urban, said they wanted the event to involve only local businesses.
“It’s unique and it helps promote area restaurants,” Harris said. “We didn’t ask any chains.”
Tracy Walvatne, owner of Josie’s Corner and alumnus of the hospitality program said the event gave her the opportunity to market her restaurant.
“We don’t have a lot of the marketing advantage that chains have,” Walvante said.
NDSU held its first wine tasting in 2003 when professor Verne Markey assigned it as a class project.
The hospitality and tourism management program then decided to make it an annual event to fundraise and provide a learning opportunity for students.
This year’s event saw a record attendance. Urban said Dakota Grill was down to its last pan of food about an hour into the event.
Dustin Mitzel, who works at Happy Harry’s Bottle Shop, said he tries to have a wide selection of wines to appeal to different tastes.
“We try to have a progressive approach and include every genre of wine,” Mitzel said.
Mitzel said trends in wine tasting have changed significantly since 50 years ago.
Because wine prices have gone down, more people are able to afford it.
Mitzel said 50 years ago, only very wealthy people could afford to drink wine, but now almost everyone can afford it.
“Twenty-one-year-olds today are more willing to try wine than they were ten years ago,” Mitzel said. “We have a new demographic of wine drinkers.”