Rainforest Fruit Bars, Wata, Tru-Juice, and Pure Country served up refreshments from whimsical stands covered in flowers and pastels.

Conversely, Raw Bar, Pure Ultra Lounge, Fireball and others brought edgy vibes with their backlit booths. What was indisputable was that patrons were spoiled for choice. The one-night-only Oscar night of food positioned culinary front and centre with KFC, Mastercard, Rainforest, Sandals and, The Best Dressed Chicken pulling especially large crowds. Naturally, patrons had their favourites:

“The best thing I’ve had to eat so far is the oxtail from the Hyatt Zilara [booth],” Maxine Gayle exclaimed.

Anjell Edwards said, “The first thing I had were the Korean Dumplings from [H/3], and they were fantastic! The flavours [are] really nice and it exposed me to something I’ve never had before. Definitely worth every cent!”

And with every morsel that was consumed, a good cause was supported.

Commenting on the philanthropic nature of the event conceptualised by Novia McDonald-Whyte, Jamaica Observer senior associate editor, lifestyle and social media content, Jamaica Observer Managing Director Dominic Beaubrun said: “This [event] acts as a scholarship fund for the investment into students at the University of Technology, to try and further their education, and I think investing in the future in that way is critical.”

Added Beaubrun, “We must be able to invest in our future leadership of the industries and sectors we want to be able to promote. The culinary industry in the world is an eight-or nine-trillion-dollar business. In the Caribbean it’s, I think, close to US$400 billion, and in Jamaica it employs up to 31 per cent of the population indirectly, So it’s critical that we find a way to invest in what we can, to help build this, to be able to help establish ourselves as a player in the global market.”

One scholarship awardee, Lacieann Bell, was ecstatic: “Honestly, I didn’t expect that it would happen. Now that I know it has, I still can’t believe it because I am so happy about it. [It makes it] a lot less challenging because I do not have to worry about my finances.”