For anyone who thinks $85 is steep for a ticket to a nonprofit culinary event featuring 70+ of the best Boston restaurants.... think again. Granted, I only paid $25 for my entry to Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, held last night at the Hynes Convention Center. That's because I volunteered to be "restaurant liaison" and keep the chefs, bakers and bartenders in the VIP section fully stocked with all the ice and plastic forks they needed. It was an easy job. They were a nice bunch of people with few demands. They were more interested in feeding me their specialty dishes, desserts and drinks than they were in asking me to fetch them some more napkins. Still, I would have paid the full price to get into this event now that I've seen exactly what you get. Even better that 100% of the profits go to Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to eliminating childhood hunger.

Not to compare, but I'd much rather pay the $85 to get into Taste of the Nation than the $30 to get into the Phantom Gourmet Foodfest, where you have to fight your way to the food, hope the food hasn't run out yet, walk around in the rain (like last year) and pay way too much for your drinks. At Taste, the entire event is well organized, well run and full of unexpected treats from Boston's best dining establishments in a large indoor space with drinks included.

If you didn't get to this year's event, here are most of the restaurants (it's not a complete list) and the wineries you missed.

One restaurant not listed was the Capital Grille. You can imagine my joy when I ran into the booth in the back corner of the event. A booth where two chefs sliced and handed off juicy pieces of medium-cooked filet. That was one of the best treats of the entire event for me... Not to be overlooked by these other favorites:

Blue Frog Bakery's chocolate carrot cake (yeah, and it's deadly)
Formaggio Kitchen cheese with fruit preserves
Ivy's arancini with fontina and black truffles
Petsi Pies cherry cobbler
Seaport Hotel's pot roast and mashed potatoes
Tremont 647 "Momos" (dumplings)
J. Lohr Cypress Cabernet (second label)

I had to force myself to just have one or two bites of each item to save room for everything else I wanted.

I started in the VIP section as I mentioned, since I had to work the area. To hang out in this area you had to pay an extra $30. It's worth it if you like sipping on $100 beer and too-sweet martinis.

As I wandered around asking people for the tenth time, "Do you need anything over here?" I finally stopped to chat with one of the chefs at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts booth, where they were serving a refreshing salad-like crabcake. I asked her how she decided what dish she'd serve that evening. She said she took the other VIP booths' items into account, which included shrimp, some spicy meats and a fabulous "lobster martini" -- diced lobster and cucumber in a light dressing with a splash of vodka. (Amazing. I just wish the restaurant serving them actually displayed their name so I could remember who I talked to.) 

She went on to explain that in the past, the VIP section was mainly desserts and she'd make a pasta dish to go along with the selection. This year everything was much lighter. One thing that did remain the same was Taste of the Nation's efforts to pair the beverages and foods in the VIP section. She said that last year's heavy dessert focus was accompanied by a selection of ports. I'm glad I wasn't around for that one; can't stand port. This year the beverages included a selection of Bombay Sapphire fruity martinis -- maybe should be too fruity martinis (one chef said he "would have liked some alcohol" in his) -- and Sam Adams' Utopia beer, a beer that's comparable to cognac, offers hints of caramel and is served in a sifter. It's the "strongest beer in the world" according to Guinness (the book, not the beer).

Getting back to the name display problem... All the restaurants and chefs who participate in Taste of the Nation donate their food and time. That says a lot and they should be thanked profusely for the fine job. But, all things considered, restaurants that need to work a little harder at making an impression and having their foodie voices heard, unlike the Hamersley's and Finales of the world, could keep a few things in mind for the next time around. Some places were just better at getting people to step up to their booths than others. So here are my recommendations, from a diner's perspective:

• Make sure there's a sign with your restaurant's name on it in an easy to see place. Preferably high so it can be spotted over other diners surrounding your booth.
  

• Don't serve full meals. This is Taste of the Nation not Stuff Yourself with the Nation. The best dishes were no more than two or three bites. Let people come back for seconds if they love it. Then those who don't won't feel bad about throwing away the extra food they didn't eat. I'm glad Taste of the Nation takes food remaining at the end of the night to local shelters. I can just imagine how much more food could be preserved for those shelters if some booths cut down on portion sizes.
  

• Don't worry too much about the presentation. Good food is good food. I saw too many people trying to dole out the perfect amount of lettuce to complement their perfect featured food item in a perfect little pile for each plate that no one was taking. The places that just handed me a mini dish or slopped some food in a bowl were the ones I enjoyed most -- and the people manning those booths were a lot less stressed.
  

• Hand out business cards, menus, postcards, anything. The ones that did are the ones that I remember, not surprisingly.
  

• Get your chefs involved. It was fun to see Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 walking around in the crowd to talk to attendees. Some restaurants, however, seemed to have sent whoever was willing to volunteer their time, and those people didn't always look all that comfortable with the crowd.
  

• Share your story. I had no idea Mantra had a four-star chef. I always just think of that place as a nightclub. I learned otherwise at their booth.
  

• Be personable. Now, as an example, I don't like foie gras and I would never seek out foie gras, but the folks running the Sandrines booth struck up a conversation with my foodie chick friend who volunteered with me. Her name happens to be French, which they spotted on her nametag. So they got into a little chat about her background and then the foie gras, which we both ended up eating. It was tasty, though my friend didn't take to it as she quietly and kindly stepped away from the booth. It's not something I'd order, but I enjoyed it and I'll now never forget about that French restaurant from Cambridge.
  

• Hand out promotions. I'm going to plug Tremont 647 again because they handed out business cards that are good for a free order of Momos next time you visit. I don't love dumplings, but I liked the Momos and I know this restaurant makes other great dishes and drinks. Then again, so do a ton of other places. That promotion may be just enough to persuade me to go to 647 over another restaurant next time I'm dining near the South End.

Of course these points are no reflection on the people working the event, who were all very nice and genuinely interested in talking about their foods and finding out about what we liked to eat or drink. I just wish I could remember every single thing I tried and who handed it to me!

Learn more about the purpose and impact of Taste of the Nation at their site: Strength.org.