Most people have a favorite specialty shop that makes or sells something you just can’t find anywhere else. It is the first place you eat at when you come home from being away and the last place you eat at before you leave again. For many, Taste Unlimited is that place. We recently had the opportunity to host a Q & A with Amy Jordan, who is the Director of Marketing, Public Relations, and Events for Taste Unlimited. We learned that not only is their food special, but they also donate their time and resources back to the community.
How did Taste Unlimited become what it is today?
Taste Unlimited was founded in the fall of 1973 by Peter Coe and a childhood friend. The first location was a wine and cheese shop at the new Hilltop West shopping center in Virginia Beach. Back then, Hilltop was mostly undeveloped farm land, and Peter Coe was just beginning his pioneering journey to enhance the collective Tidewater palate. An inventory of specialty foods grew, as new products were introduced in the store. Sandwiches with the now-famous House Dressing were added a few years later, as well as a variety of prepared foods and catering services. The company eventually added locations in Norfolk and Chesapeake, as well as two additional locations in Virginia Beach. In October 2006, Peter Coe and his family (by then his daughter and son-in-law were very involved in the business) sold the company to the Pruden family, who also had a family tradition in the specialty food business, including three generations in the country ham curing business with Pruden Packing Co.. Soon after making the purchase, the Prudens added a location at City Center in Newport News. Peter Coe stayed on, working side by side with the Pruden family, right up until his untimely passing in 2011. He immersed himself in wine and cheese buying, recipe development, and his always-entertaining cooking classes, relishing his role as “chief cook and bottle washer.” Peter Coe’s larger than life presence is still missed here at the company, and the entire community owes him a debt of gratitude for creating a business that continues to be such a part of Tidewater family traditions.
When the torch was first passed from Peter, the Prudens knew their primary responsibility was that of caretakers of a community asset. Yet the Prudens and all of us on their management team continue to find opportunities to build upon the foundation that had been laid for us. Products and services have thoughtfully been added, there has been significant investment in improving customer service, and facilities have been upgraded. In the past few years, the company relocated its Norfolk store to Hampton Boulevard, where it now operates its flagship store location, as well as its kitchen, warehouse, fulfillment of online gift and product orders placed at www.tasteunlimited.com, and corporate offices. In 2011, the original Hilltop store was relocated to Hilltop East, a newer section of the shopping center, and seating was greatly expanded. The Oceanfront store was completely remodeled in 2012. The Greenbrier store in Chesapeake was relocated to North Eden Way, where the store is twice the size of the former location. Meanwhile, the company re-branded itself as “TASTE.”
What makes Taste Unlimited unique?
It’s my fifth year with TASTE, and I can tell you first-hand that one of the most unique things about this company is how much it is considered a local tradition. When I tell people I work for TASTE, their faces generally light up, and they share childhood memories of enjoying TASTE sandwiches on the beach. They tell me that when they came home on college breaks, the first thing they wanted was a sandwich from TASTE, as I did myself! More than one man has told me their wives craved House Dressing throughout their pregnancies. People tell me which location is “their” TASTE. And they just about always tell me their favorite sandwich! Some tell us that TASTE helped ignite their passion for food or wine, and how they discovered foods and ingredients that had never been available in Tidewater before. We even have one couple that met at our monthly “TASTE Uncorked” wine tasting events at our Oceanfront location, and now they’ve been married for years. People seem to feel personally “invested” in TASTE, and they consider it a home-grown success story.
What is something people should know about the Restaurant?
We love to share our love of food and wine with our customers through events! In fact, we host nearly 75 events each year! Patrick Evans-Hylton's Chefs' Table cooking classes bring you into the TASTE kitchen to watch local guest chefs prepare a sumptuous meal before your eyes. And you get to eat their homework! Taste Uncorked events will introduce you to new wines with a different monthly theme. Bottles & Bites, is a new wine tasting event starting this month, where the focus is more educational and geared toward pairing wines with foods. Bottles & Bites will be offered quarterly.
Tell us a little about your charitable contributions.
TASTE supports the community through volunteerism and direct philanthropic efforts and has contributed to hundreds of worthy causes over the years. In order to have a more meaningful impact, we have recently narrowed our philanthropic focus to a few organizations and causes. At present, our primary focus is organizations and events that provide cancer support and fund cancer research. This cause is especially close to the hearts of many TASTE employees and customers who have been impacted directly or indirectly by this terrible disease that almost feels like an epidemic. In fact, it was cancer that took our company founder Peter Coe. In 2012, we hosted a tribute series of cooking classes in his honor, titled "Cooking For A Cause." Five well known guest chefs participated and hosted classes in the TASTE kitchen, and we raised over $10,000 for Lee's Friends, which has been supporting the local cancer community for 34 years. TASTE also has continuing relationships with ForKids, which helps homeless families get back on their feet, and with Horizons Hampton Roads, which helps underprivileged children with educational opportunities. 
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