Floral arrangements sit artfully in green nests, with the golden glow of candlelight spilling onto white-clothed tables. Music from a string quartet wafts on warm air, accompanied by the happy hum of good company.
Then a mouthwatering burst of aroma peels into the room, and eager eyes scan the space in anticipation of a hearty community meal.
This was the scene at the third annual Taste of Steinbach on Tuesday, which was a delicious success, as hundreds gathered at the Southeast Event Centre (SEC) to savour local flavours.
Tracy Gromniski, president of the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce, says the event featured everything from a small ice cream shop and coffee roaster, to large meat producers and international organizations.
"Everybody gets to participate equally and are showcased equally. It's really amazing," she says, describing plated wagyu beef as "melt in your mouth... and the Nature's pasta noodles soaked up in all the juices. It was amazing."
Locally made sourdough bread, carrot cake, and ice cream were also "baked" into the evening.
Gromniski adds hosting the event at the SEC made the night even more scrumptious.
"What a fantastic way to be introduced to this building, right where you get to be front and centre in the middle of the ice floor, surrounded by almost 650 other people, celebrating a fantastic evening and fantastic businesses."
A lot of effort went into making this year's Taste of Steinbach a success—especially with 624 guests in attendance, says Tessa Masi, the executive director of the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce.
That's more than 100 people above last year, she says, and 254 more people than the event's first year.
To make it happen, three different subcommittees were "kneaded," Masi says.
"We have a community relations committee, food committee...and then a decor committee. Without them, I think we would have struggled a lot," Masi says.
JP Charpentier, HyLife's corporate chef, served on the food committee. He helped craft a menu highlighting the dishes of about 16 local vendors.
"Communication and organization is key to make sure we have a plan for everything," Charpentier says, having recently opened and with a new team, it was a bit of a learning curve.
He says making enough room in the ovens and storage areas to cook and hold food for more than 600 people was no small feat.
"Then, when you think of peeling one carrot, it's easy. When you think of peeling 600 carrots, it's harder. So everything you are doing, you are multiplying by 624," he says.
It meant lot of prep time, which Masi says was an important factor for all committees—many showing up bright and early the morning of the event to set up.
She says the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce had been preparing for the event for nine months.
For Gromniski, all the planning paid off.
"How wonderful it is to celebrate such a long-term strategy and planning to build (the SEC), with a one-of-a-kind event of this size, where we bring the community together, we celebrate local businesses, and get to experience this event centre in a way that hasn't been experienced yet," she says.
"I am enamored by the whole situation."
Written with files from Andrea Turner and Corny Rempel