Serving up some Tastes

The 14th annual Taste of Newport begins Friday at Fashion Island.

Among those serving tastes from their restaurants’ menus is Dennis

Brask, chef at Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona del Mar.

On Friday, City Editor James Meier stopped by Five Crowns to chat

with Brask about his favorite tastes as well as those of the

thousands who’ll sample his restaurant’s tastes.

How long have you been involved with the Taste of Newport?

Since the beginning. Though I was gone for a few years and they

continued while I was gone.

What got you involved?

It goes back to when it was the Salute to the Arts. Of course now

it’s the Taste of Newport. We used to be indoors, with a booth and a

couple other people. And it’s grown to taking up the north end of

Fashion Island and attracting tens of thousands. So, just about from

the beginning.

What do you plan to offer tasters this year at the Five Crowns’

booth?

We do the same thing every year. I’d probably be lynched if I

didn’t do our roasted prime rib sandwich, with au jus and fresh

whipped cream horseradish and we do our signature raspberry creme

brulee.

We’ve added two and taken away from it over the time, but those

are the two things that we’ve always taken and are the most popular.

Like I said, I wouldn’t dare not do it.

What else did you dare to bring?

Oh, we’ve brought crab cakes and pasta dishes, etc., etc., but the

public has always told us, by their participation and what they’ve

bought, that that’s what they want us to bring.

When you’re not cooking or eating own food, what do you try when

you’re at the Taste?

A little bit of everything. It’s a great venue. There’s always the

new people who are there for the first year and I always love to see

what they’re doing. I actually collect a list of hints of the places

to try, the new places on the block, and see what they’re offering.

Then, I go back later for dinner.

Are there any particulars that you forward to every year?

I spend a lot of time in our booth, so I can’t say. Royal Thai is

a great friend. We’ve done a lot of things with them, so that’s a

must touch-base-with, along with Villa Nova.

So, at your booth, do you show people how to make this great food,

too?

Pretty much, the lines are so long and the service goes so fast.

Most of the roasting we do is done here [at the Five Crowns]. We do

finish off the creme brulee at the Taste, which is torching the sugar

on top and caramelizing it, which draws a lot of attention and is

really fun because you get to interact with the public. They say,

“Whatcha doing?” “Well, we burn all of the calories out of it when we

torch it, so you don’t have to feel guilty.” Right, right.

What do you enjoy most about the event?

I think getting in touch with the community, getting out there and

seeing those guests that, from the back of the house, we don’t get to

meet face to face. I think Newport Beach is our community where we

draw our regulars from -the loyal customers, so it’s nice to meet

them and say hi. That’s fun.

Does each year differ that much from your point of view?

Actually, yes. Because you’re outside, you’re a victim of the

weather. Unfortunately, last year, because it was mid-September, it

was actually postponed. But we did get great participation in moving

the schedule back three weeks.

But every year, there has always been a growth pattern. Pretty

soon, it’s going to be like “How can we top last year?” Because we

get to the point where you can’t even move at peak times on Friday

and Saturday night.

But it evolves and the weather changes. If it’s too nice, the sand

and surf have a draw.

Any final thoughts?

Just strictly quantity. It always amazes me. We deal with the

purveyors that we buy stuff from -- 600 to 700 loaves of bread are

delivered to the event. We have our meat shipped in from Chicago in

the morning. Almost a ton of beef. Sheer volume.

Is it more of a challenge serving so many people in so short a

time as opposed to the restaurant where you have fewer customers?

Totally different. The experience that we offer in the restaurant

is from pulling into the parking lot to hopefully a wonderful

experience with the wine service and everything else.

At the Taste, we’re just giving them that little tidbit -- a taste

-- of what we do. We take a facade that looks a little bit like the

outside of the restaurant, but it’s certainly only a nail scratch of

what we’re really offering here [at the Five Crowns].

Do you notice that many people coming back for more at the Taste?

We do offer a bounce back-type offer just to see how many people

we’re touching. It’s a really good response coming back from that.

It’s good public relations from us.

The offer is usually either a buy-one-get-one-free or a complete

dinner for two package that includes first course entree as well as

dessert and wine. We find that when people come in for dinner for two

will just come in and have one entree and another. When we do the

whole package at a great discount, people get to experience our wine

steward coming up and offering the wine -- everything we do, from

salad, entree right on through dessert. We find that a much better

venue for providing an offer.

We’re a great destination restaurant. People on the street will

say they went there for prom or it was their grandfather’s favorite

place to go or they went there for graduation. We’re very well known

in the community as a special occasion restaurant. We just have to

get out and remind people that we’re still here doing the same great

job we always have.