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A new food festival will be populating the spring calendar this year. "Taste of Bluffton" looks to be a very Bluffton-centric fest. Details to come.

From a release:

"'Taste of Bluffton' Celebrates Flavors of the Lowcountry Bluffton Chamber’s culinary street fair set for April 13, 2013

Bluffton, SC – The Greater Bluffton Chamber of Commerce will host a special “Taste of Bluffton” street fair, celebrating the unique flavors of the Lowcountry, on Saturday, April 13, 2013, from 11am to 5pm.

Rejoice! The cookies are coming.

From a release:

"Girl Scout cookies will go on sale Friday, Jan. 11, with door-to-door sales continuing through Jan. 27. Pre-sale delivery will be held Feb. 15-21 and booth sales begin Feb. 22 and continue through March 17."

Apparently, there's a new kind of cookie this year, too. (But will it be better than my personal favorite, the Tagalong? Probably not.)

Hilton Head Restaurant Week is only a short time away, but the menus have just started to roll in. Check out the HHI-Bluffton Chamber website here to get all the details.

At first glance, it looks like about 50 places have signed up including some big names -- Robert Irvine's eat!, The Jazz Corner, Michael Anthony's, Red Fish, SERG group spots, etc.

We ran a story today about the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes. In case you're not familiar (don't worry, I really wasn't either), the feast is an Italian Christmas tradition, featuring a multi-course meal of fish and seafood.

Changes are in store for the popular Hilton Head Island seafood restaurant.

From a release:

"Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks is delighted to announce the appointment of acclaimed chef Lloyd Alberson as the restaurant’s new Executive Chef. Alberson is a respected chef with more than 20 years of experience cooking at restaurants around the United States.

The wait is over. Former Michael Anthony's chef Michael Cirafesi opened Ombra Cucina Rustica earlier this month in the Village at Wexford.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, Cirafesi teamed up with his mentor Nunzio Patruno of Philadelphia to start the Italian restaurant in the former location of Antonio's. Cirafesi cooked at the highly acclaimed Michael Anthony's for 11 years before deciding to move on.

The Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival isn't until March, but act fast to get your tickets to the annual "Uncork" the Festival event Jan. 26 (Note: The date has changed from a previous announcement).

If you're unfamiliar with Uncork, think of it as a party where everyone brings that bottle of wine they've been meaning to pop open but have been waiting for the perfect occasion to do so.

More than 800 guests dined at the 23rd annual Taste of the Season Friday (Nov. 16) at Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa. Foodies sampled from about 40 local chefs. Out of all of them, they determined that Hugo's "Surf n' Turf Lollipops" were the best (right)

Read on to see who else took home prizes.

In case you haven't heard, we've got our own brewery now. River Dog Brewing is up and running in the Ridgeland area. They're having a tasting and beer pairing dinner at Fiddlehead Pizza Nov. 9. Read on for details.

Because it's never too early to be thinking about the HHI Wine & Food Festival.

From a release:

"The 2013 Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival, presented by The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa is gearing up for the 28th Annual event which will be held March 4 – 9, 2013.

The Pre-Festival events taking place in January are 'Uncork' the Festival on Friday, January 25, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., on Hilton Head Island and the International Wine Judging and Competition, Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27, 2013.