Restaurants Will Put Best Food Forward

The food at next weekend’s 1991 Taste of Newport promises to justify the $6 admission price, judging by the lineup of restaurants participating.

Forty well-known Newport area restaurants will be strutting their stuff at the Fashion Island event this year, along with 17 well-known wineries. This affords an opportunity to eat and drink one’s way through some of the best food and wine this area has to offer, without more exertion than it takes to shuffle through giddy crowds intent on doing exactly the same thing.

As every year, the format will be relatively simple. Restaurants will be represented at booths, where small portions of specialty foods will be prepared to order. Individual tickets, costing $1 apiece, will be used to buy these foods, with the majority of items sold costing between two and four tickets. No single item is supposed to cost more than $5, so chances are you’ll run out of steam before you run out of tickets.

I’d be happy just hovering somewhere near the addictive Italian sausage from Lido Shipyard Sausage Co., oozing imported cheese and redolent of Italian spice. Peter Sabatino, the sausage maker, sold more than 3,000 pounds of the stuff last year.

There will be lots more Italian food at the event, upscale fare from Tuttomare, the more traditional cooking of Villa Nova and wonderful chicken salad and gianduja , a kind of chocolate hazelnut tart, from Corona del Mar’s terrific Mezzaluna, just to name a few options.

But the cuisine certainly won’t be limited to that part of the world. Gandhi of South Coast Plaza Village and Newport Beach’s elegant Royal Khyber will be serving Indian food, Newport Beach’s Marrakesh will be representing Morocco and Kamakura of Costa Mesa will have Japanese foods on hand, so you can count on a truly international atmosphere.

Then there is the fun of eating innovative fare from David Wilhelm, who has three of his restaurants (Barbacoa, Bistro 201 and Kachina) involved this year. Talk about creative. Newport’s Barbacoa will be serving coconut shrimp with a tangerine mustard sauce, Jamaican barbecued ribs and chicken skewers with a coconut peanut sauce. Irvine’s Bistro 201 is going to make that hot chocolate souffle, the hit of last year’s event, again this year. And Kachina, his southwest establishment in Laguna Beach, will tempt you with fare like green corn tamale with barbecued duck and blackened swordfish tacos. Whew!

Natch, there’s going to be a lot more. China is well spoken for by Newport Beach restaurants China Palace, the Wok, and Michael Kang’s Five Feet Two in Fashion Island. There will be fresh seafood from Parker’s Seafood Grill of Newport Beach, homemade desserts from Balboa Dessert Co. and, oh yes, lots of good old American fare such as that found at Hans Prager’s Yankee Tavern in Newport Beach, or the Daily Grill of Fashion Island, which will serve up ears of barbecued corn on the cob.

All this eating is bound to make somebody thirsty. That’s been taken care of, too. Sip wines from such prestigious wineries as Kendall Jackson, Robert Mondavi and Budweiser. Whoops, that’s not a winery, but they’ll be there too.

All in all, it should all be quite a feast.

What: Taste of Newport.

When: Sept. 20, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sept. 21, noon to 10 p.m.; Sept. 22, noon to 6 p.m.

Where: Fashion Island, Newport Center, Newport Beach.

Whereabouts: San Diego (405) Freeway to Jamboree Boulevard exit. Take Jamboree south to Santa Barbara Drive, left on Santa Barbara to Fashion Island.

Wherewithal: Admission is $6. Tickets, at $1 apiece, will be used to purchase food, with no single item costing more than 5 tickets.

Where to Call: (714) 644-8211.