To showcase its dining options, the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center launched the “Taste of Gaylord National” this summer, which lured hundreds of hotel and area guests on Friday evenings in August to sample four food and drink pairings created by the resort's restaurant chefs.
The concept was first tested last year at the Gaylord Texan Resort. Tickets cost $20 per person and came in the form of a foldout booklet dubbed "the passport." Not just an admission ticket, the passport included recipes for each dish, like National Pastime Sports Bar and Grill’s steak sandwich with homemade onion sauce. It also included a 10 percent discount coupon for a future visit to any of the participating restaurants.
During the event, guests could start at any of the four restaurants: Old Hickory Steakhouse, Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine, National Pastime, and Pienza Italian Market. With the exception of Pienza, which offered reserved seating in the main dining room, the tastings were held in the bar/lounge area of each restaurant. Guests could spend as little or as much time as they wanted at each stop, as long as they wrapped up all four before 7:30 p.m.
