Take a taste of Surf City

Jenny Marder

A lavish array of culinary delights will garnish the grand ballroom

of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa Sunday on Sunday

as Surf City’s finest chefs strut their stuff.

Restaurants are already cooking up a storm to prepare for the

fourth annual Taste of Huntington Beach event.

A sampling of dishes ranging from shrimp cocktail, to pesto

tortellini to California rolls will be served up to celebrate the

city’s food and beverage purveyors.

“People will have four hours to walk around and taste the food,”

said Ron McLin, president of the Huntington Beach Restaurant Assn.

“Restaurants really go all out with displays and food quality. They

really try to outdo each other.”

McLin’s restaurant, the Longboard Restaurant and Pub, is deserting

last year’s Cajun shrimp and jerk chicken for steamed clams and Ruben

sandwiches, with fresh corned beef imported from Boston.

More than 50 restaurants and 30 wineries and breweries will

participate in the event, which will be held in the hotel’s grand

ballroom and its outside terrace that overlooks the ocean.

The event will also include a silent auction, a raffle and live

entertainment.

One of McLin’s favorite dishes was the Maryland crab cake, with a

sweet pea puree, prepared by Jeff Littlefield, chef at the Waterfront

Hilton Beach Resort.

Littlefield’s secret is fresh, high-quality crabmeat and a simple,

no frills recipe, he said. He expects to cook about 2,000 cakes on

Sunday.

“It’s one of our signature dishes,” Littlefield said. “If I change

that I think they might lynch me.”

He’ll be constructing a small brick stove so that he can saute the

dish on the spot.

“We decorate the booth up and then we just rock and roll,” he

said.

The goal is to top last year’s $32,000. McLin is hoping to raise

$40,000, all of which will benefit the Huntington Beach Children’s

Library as it has every year.

“It’s a nice charity event,” McLin said. “It’s a kind of a

upscale, elegant event with jazz band behind. It’s not a rushed or

hurried event.”

Judges will present awards for the best overall presentation, the

best dessert and the most enthusiastic table.

“Some of the restaurants get really involved and it’s a source of

pride,” said Matt Liffreing, one of the organizers of the event.

“They get to go out of the restaurants and get to meet new people.

They’re testing their fare for the first time perhaps. It’s their

opportunity to make a good impression.”

Tickets are $40 before the event and $50 at the door. For tickets,

contact the Huntington Beach library at (714) 842-4481, Duke’s

Huntington Beach at (714) 374-6446 or the Huntington Beach Conference

and Visitors Bureau at (714) 969-3492.

The event will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Hyatt Huntington

Beach Resort & Spa at 21500 Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington

Beach.

“Where else can you go to partake in 50 of the areas best

restaurants, visit wineries, breweries and so forth for $40 and have

it go to a good cause,” Liffreing said.