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No Meat Puts Veggies First at Last Mango

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<i> Benjamin Epstein is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County. Fax information to (714) 966-7790, or write: Newsbites/OC Live!, The Times Orange County, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. </i>

Last Mango in Newport opened last week, and the vegetarian restaurant promises much more than cucumbers and sprouts. Greta Carbo is lentils, artichoke hearts, black beans, garlic and herbs with rotelli ($9.50); a BBQ Anti Pollo pizza features mock chicken of seasoned gluten ($7.75), and Down Home at the Mango is a hearty meatless loaf with roasted garlic mashed potatoes ($7.95).

Open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

2900 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach. (714) 723-5778.

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The Native American Pumpkin Festival will be celebrated at Kachina beginning Saturday and through October. West Coast Restaurant Ventures executive chef John Sharpe is offering a variety of dishes including pumpkin cakes topped with grilled scallops and smoked tomato cream ($8.95), mesquite-grilled venison chops on mashed pumpkin with cranberry port wine sauce ($21.95) and a pumpkin hazelnut brulee tartlet ($4.50).

22 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. (714) 497-5546.

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Chef Sharpe gets more specific at Bowers Museum’s Topaz Cafe on Friday, when he celebrates the harvest festival of the Pacific Northwest Indians with a Potlach Salmon Feast. He’s serving baked and smoked Chinook salmon with alderwood and wild fennel, but the feast also includes grilled quail with wild mushrooms, quinoa and wild rice with corn and peppers, roasted peppers and squash. Native American music will accompany the meal, and Bowers Museum curator Paul Apodaca will give an informal talk.

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The $35 per person includes wine but not tax or tip. Dinner begins at 7.

2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 835-2002.

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Prego Ristorante in Irvine presents its Festa della Vendemmia grape-stomping feast for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation on Sunday, and chef Pascal Olhats stages “An Autumn Evening in Provence” at Village Crean in Santa Ana Heights for Serving People in Need (SPIN) on Saturday.

The Prego event, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., costs $50 (age 10 and under, $10) and features a Lucille Ball look-alike contest. (714) 532-8692. The SPIN event, 6 to 10 p.m., is $100; Olhats, chef at Pascal, promises provencale entrees and desserts. (714) 757-1456.

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