South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Flavors around the globe
Tamarac touts diverse mix of mom-and-pop restaurants in effort to boost business
Is Tamarac the next foodie paradise?
That’s the hope for the western Broward County city with the rollout of a new initiative called “Savor the Flavors Tamarac,” which is designed to draw attention to small, family-owned restaurants serving up Jamaican, Haitian, Dominican and Aruban, Argentinian, Peruvian, Colombian, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese and
American food.
“I think even longtime residents of Tamarac may not realize how many restaurants we have,” says Lori Funderwhite, Tamarac’s economic development manager. “We have almost 60 mom-andpop restaurants, which I think is impressive for a mid-size city with a population of 66,000. Our cuisines span the globe. We have a great story to tell.”
The way “Savor the Flavors Tamarac” plans on telling that story is through six months of marketing and rebranding that includes:
A “Tasty Tamarac” People’s Choice Award, starting in May, where you can vote on the restaurants serving the best American, Asian, Caribbean, Italian and Latin fare.
A free citywide food-centric scavenger hunt taking place throughout August.
An updated online and printed “Flavors of Tamarac Map” to help foodies navigate the city’s emerging restaurant scene.
There will be a chef competition for the “Tastiest Appetizer in
Tamarac.”
The city will also help restaurants produce sizzle reels to use in social media and host business workshops for the owners.
For more information, go to FlavorsOfTamarac.com.
“We have such a diverse community ... and our variety of international cuisines reflect our diverse community,” Funderwhite adds.
To help them get the word out, Tamarac enlisted restaurant
promoter Denise Righetti, whose company stages culinary events and tours for various corporations. They also send out a newsletter to 5,000 foodies in South Florida.
“A true foodie will travel to where good food is,” Righetti says. “They are hidden treasures. They are really truly authenitic ... and they offer a wonderful wonderful addition to the community.”
The challenge for Tamarac, she says, is that there is no one dining and drinking enclave or hub.
“It’s spread out. It’s not like it’s a walkable district like you have in downtown Boca or Delray.”
And the coronavirus pandemic didn’t help either.
“Last year we planned our [restaurant promotion plan] for April 2020,” Funderwhite recalls. “But of course we then had to cancel everything, just days before our launch. So, this year we have expanded the program to six months...for obvious reasons: The restaurants have really been suffering. We want to just help them to get back on their feet.”
Partnering with the Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, the city also launched “Tamarac Together: Support Local Business,” a shop-local program that also emphasized takeout/delivery options from local eateries. They also helped restaurants set-up outdoor seating areas, provided small business grants via the CARES Act and purchased gift cards from small restaurants to give to families in need.
Keisha Allison, the chef at Pan D Endz Jamaican Restaurant, which she co-owns with her husband, Coy, says that COVID-19 has been their biggest challenge since opening Jan. 20, 2017.
“Covid has definitely affected the smaller businesses like ourselves,” she says. “But it has also given us the opportunity to improve on areas that needed improving and also given us a guide to be ready for whatever gets thrown our way that we will be ready.”
Juan Vanegas of Chow Time Grill and Buffet, a Chinese American buffet that’s been in business since 2008 and in Tamarac since 2018, agrees that the pandemic has been the biggest challenge but that Tamarac is well situated for a comeback.
“The city of Tamarac has a great diversity of people — the city is upcoming,” he says. “The city of Tamarac is a great business partner with programs...to help its local businesses. There aren’t many cities that support local business like the city of Tamarac.”