Sip, sample and mingle in PT

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A large assortment of chefs, brewers and confectioners are putting the finishing touches on a wide variety of delicious eats and drinks to be served this week during the Taste of Port Townsend fundraiser. The event will be from 5 to 8 p.m. June 6 at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St. Ticket sales benefit the Port Townsend Main Street Program, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tickets will be available at the door. Several local eateries are represented including the various departments of Aldrich’s Markets. “The talent that exists in this store goes largely unnoticed,” said Scott Rogers, owner of Aldrich’s. “What better way to get it in front of people? We don’t represent one individual company. We can bring something unique and interesting.” Among the smorgasbord prepared for the event will be freshly cut sushi crafted by Tomoko Tolson and her staff from Sushi Ichiba, a sushi bar located on the second floor of Aldrich’s, as well as selections from the store’s deli department. Tolson, who grew up in northern Japan, was exposed to sushi culture from a young age. “My father was an architect,” she said. “His friend was a sushi chef. He was coming to my house when I was a little child.” Tolson said she watched with big eyes. “It was kind of natural,” she said. The best sushi, Tolson said, is made from the freshest fish and ingredients and always in the Japanese style. “Everyday we are fresh,” she said, “nothing leftover.” Tolson has lived in Port Townsend for the past 20 years, and has worked at Sushi Ichiban since Alrdrichs’s reopened in 2005. She has been training David Pavlicek, assistant manager of Sushi Ichiban, about the finer points of crafting sushi for the past eight years. “He learned really fast and has a Japanese attitude, hard work,” Tolson said. “I am lucky. We are a good team.” The hardest part was learning to properly fry tempura veggies and shrimp, Pavlicek said. “It has to be perfect. It has to be the right color, the right crunchiness. If it is fish, it can’t be too dry. It has to be nice and juicy.” Tolson has very high standards, so if Pavliceck messes up his failure goes straight into the garbage can. “And I get scolded,” he said with a grin. That attention to details has upped his game, he said. “My favorite one to make is probably the assorted raw fish roll,” Pavliceck said. “You get to put everything in there. It is basically all kinds of fish on top. It is lots of cutting.” Check out additional photos of Tolson’s sushi skills on page B6.