Walla Walla Celebrating Sweet Onion Week
Walla Walla logo (courtesy Creative Commons)
People in Walla Walla will get the chance all week to sample several unique dishes that feature Walla Walla sweet onions.
A group of restaurants have partnered to create the first ever Walla Walla Sweet Onion Restaurant Week.
Olive Marketplace and Cafe on Main Street has italian sausage stuffed onion, caramelized onion pizza and many other dishes that feature the local delicacy.
Becki Stuart, Walla Walla, has lived in her hometown her whole life and said it's part of the town's identity.
"It's just kind of who Walla Walla is," Stuart said. "We're sweet and we're known for our sweets so it's exciting that we're just like focusing the week on kind of who we are."
"Best of the Road" In Town
The sweet onion is helping Walla Walla get some national recognition with a pair of contestants from the Rand MacNally/USA Today Best of the Road Contest.
Mike Shubic and Brian Cox have traveled to five other cities to see which has the best food in all of small town America.
The two were told right away that the sweet onion is a big part of Walla Walla's culture.
"This is the only place I ever witnessed this craze around an onion," Shubic said. "It actually is an amazingly sweet product."
"I actually was able to try some and it's delicious," Cox said. "I understand what everyone's raving about."
The two will create videos about their experiences from Walla Walla, Lewiston, NY, Burnsville, MN, Denton, TX, Santa Fe, NM and Bloomington, IN.
A panel will choose which city has the best food in America, and Walla Walla hopes to snag a second consecutive award after winning the friendliest city in last year's contest from USA Today.
You can follow Shubic and Cox by going to their websites at www.MikesRoadTrip.com and www.TheTravelVlogger.com
Sweet Onion Festival Details
The 28th annual Sweet Onion Festival will start this upcoming Saturday.
For details on the event, you can visit www.sweetonions.org