Annual Taste of the Islands winners announced

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife recently announced the winners of the 42nd Taste of the Islands — REBUILDING.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE Cielo won Taste of Taste and Best Seafood with its Pan Seared Alaskan Sablefish.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE MudBugs Cajun Kitchen won Best Appetizer with its Shrimp Cargot.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE Southern Grill won Best Meat with its Burnt Ends.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE Tutti Pazzi Italian Kitchen won Best Vegetarian with its Carciofo Fritti.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE Love Boat Ice Cream won Best Dessert with its Carmel Apple Ice Cream.

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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE Cielo won Best Adult Beverage with its Serpent Bearer.

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The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife recently announced the winners of the 42nd Taste of the Islands — REBUILDING, which featured on- and off-island restaurants with the goal of rebuilding after Hurricane Ian.

Local judges Sanibel City Councilmember Holly Smith, NBC2 News Anchor Peter Busch, local Chef Jarred Harris, Edison National Bank/Bank of the Islands Chief Executive Officer and President Geoff and Robbie Roepstorff, National Food, Wine, & Travel writer Gina Birch, and Chef Derek Stone rated the restaurants’ offerings in a variety of categories. Also, participants voted for their favorite restaurant to win the People’s Choice Award.

The Taste of the Islands winners are as follows:

– Best Breakfast: Artichoke Chorizo Benedict, The Shipyard

– Best Appetizer: Shrimp Cargot, MudBugs Cajun Kitchen

– Best Meat: Burnt Ends, Southern Grill

– Best Seafood: Pan Seared Alaskan Sablefish, Cielo

– Best Vegetarian: Carciofo Fritti, Tutti Pazzi Italian Kitchen

– Best Dessert: Carmel Apple Ice Cream, Love Boat Ice Cream

– Best Adult Beverage: Serpent Bearer, Cielo

– Taste of Taste: Pan Seared Alaskan Sablefish, Cielo

– People’s Choice: Cielo

CROW reported that despite traffic issues, its CROW “Crawl” on Nov. 18 was a huge success. Trolleys, donated by the Sanibel Sea School, shuttled attendees to participating restaurants. CROW held interactive educational programs at its Visitor Education Center, with appearances by Animal Ambassadors Talon, the red-tailed hawk and Mina, the great horned owl.

The event raised just under $100,000.

“As the longest-running Taste in the Lee County area and the longest fundraiser for CROW, we are blessed to have the support and partnership of the restaurants and sponsors for this year’s Taste,” Executive Director Alison Charney Hussey said. “We are all rebuilding, and we are so thankful to have the support of our partners. Thank you to all who participated and made it such an amazing success to CROW and our island restaurants.”

CROW thanked Bank of the Islands/Edison National Bank for returning as the presenting sponsor, along with: People’s Choice Award sponsor Siesta Pebble Pools; lead media sponsor ABC7; Waste Management, VCA Animal Hospital, Scalon Auto Group and Gavin’s Ace Hardware as sous chef sponsors; The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company, Superior Title, Spivey Law Firm, LCEC, Kingfisher Real Estate, Rosier Insurance and Patriot Disaster Specialist as sommelier sponsors; and Rapid Response Team, Cathie Lewis, and Island Law Office of Janet Strickland as maitre d’ level sponsors.