Gourmet Benefits Hold the Promise of a Weekend for Every Taste
Food lovers have more than a taste of benefits this weekend.
“Taste of Costa Mesa,” three days of food from 30 local restaurants, will be held in the parking lot at Sears South Coast Plaza. Vendors include Maxi’s Grille, Ferdussi’s Taste of Persia and Lil Shavers Shaved Ice. Also featured are live entertainment, a Kid’s Spot activity area and, new this year, a tasting pavilion featuring 40 micro-breweries and 10 wineries.
Proceeds will benefit, among others, the Boy Scouts of America and Newport Mesa Schools Foundation.
Hours are Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, noon to midnight, and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. Adults, $6; juniors 12 to 18, seniors 55 and over and military, $4; children 3 to 11, $1; under 3, free. Tastes and beverages, $1 to $4.
Meanwhile, “A Taste for Life,” Saturday at the Mondavi Wine & Food Center, features menu items from more than 20 restaurants coordinated by Alan Greeley and Lou Manginelli of Golden Truffle and including Claes Seafood Etc., Morton’s of Chicago and Mr. Stox (where Scott Raczek was recently named “Chef of the Year” by the Southern California Restaurant Writers), and tasting of more than 100 wines.
At last year’s “A Taste for Life,” the South Coast Cancer League raised $200,000. This year’s event, dubbed “Moonlight Masquerade,” features entertainment by blues singer Barbara Morrison. Auction items include an African cruise and a concert by Bill Medley in your home. It’s $150 per person and starts at 6 p.m.
Double that ticket to attend Art of Dining VIII on Sunday at the Four Seasons Hotel, a black-tie benefit for Newport Harbor Art Museum coordinated by chef Joachim Splichal. The $300 evening starts with a champagne reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 7.
Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Center, 1570 Scenic Ave., Costa Mesa. (714) 665-5219.
Sears South Coast Plaza, Bristol Street and Sunflower Avenue, Costa Mesa. (714) 545-1440.
Four Seasons Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. (714) 759-1122.
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Da Vinci Ristorante offers “The Rites of Spring,” a six-course wine-tasting dinner featuring Italian food and wines Friday and Saturday. Dishes include an aragosta martini (lobster with black and white angel hair pasta with garlic and anise in grappa and vin santo) and cervo ripeno (venison stuffed with hazelnuts, currants and pancetta). It’s $75 per person plus tax and tip, and it starts at 6:30 p.m. both nights. Importer Silvio Caputo and wine connoisseur Mike Bassler will discuss the wines.
2222 E. 1st St., Santa Ana. (714) 285-1130.