A great Taste

Christine Carrillo

Offering a variety of food and drink to tantalize the taste buds

and please the pallet, the 14th annual Taste of Newport challenged

more than the usual Orange County residents to try the multiple

flavors of Newport Beach.

Wrapping up three fun-filled days of food Sunday evening, the

Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce event proved successful as patrons

from Los Angeles, the Inland Empire and the Bay Area ventured to

Newport Center Drive near Fashion Island just to get a taste or two.

“It’s beautiful,” said Michael Olivares, who attended the event

for the first time with his wife, Rosemary, and their two daughters.

“It’s not crowded. The food is good. The drinks are good.”

The Olivares family, who live in Whittier, used to attend the

Taste of L.A. events and found that, while Newport didn’t have the

celebrities Los Angeles did, the large selection of good food and

entertainment really made the event worthwhile.

“It opened us up to different places to go and eat,” Rosemary

said. “Because we’re adventurous, I’m willing to try ... I don’t care

how far it is.”

Consisting of 36 restaurants offering an array of samples and a

diverse dinning crowd, the 2002 Taste of Newport was an expertly run

venue for restaurateurs and dinners alike.

“This is a microcosm of who’s eating in these restaurants,” said

Richard Luehrs, president of the chamber. “And hopefully it’s new

people trying new foods.”

With dishes from Five Crowns restaurant in Corona del Mar, that

has attended the event for the last 14 years, to Bibi Anna’s in

Newport Beach, that attended the event for the first time this year,

the Taste of Newport successfully united fine foods with patrons’

pallets.

“I’m always scared to try new foods but coming here it’s a lot

less intimidating,” said Sonja Simms of Fountain Valley, who has

attended the event with friends for the last two years. “I don’t like

wasting it if I don’t like it. It’s not like drinks. I don’t think

I’ve had a drink I don’t like.”

Although the event increased attendance and sales on Friday by

about 6%, it experienced slightly lower numbers Saturday night. But

the response from those people in attendance has been very positive,

said Doug Stuckey, the public affairs director of the chamber.

“I’ve gotten more compliments on the food this year than anything

else,” he said.

The entertainment was also a big hit this year.

“When you have a base of the fine restaurants we have here,

producing such a great quality, its hard to impress anyone,” Luehrs

said. “The one thing that we can change is the entertainment.”

It was a bit of a struggle getting them, but after they secured

this year’s entertainment, which included Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and

Kool and the Gang, and experiencing only minor problems the first

day, the finely organized event even allowed for some the chamber and

event staff to enjoy a little taste of Newport too.

“We didn’t really have time the first few days,” Stuckey said.

“But you’ve got to taste the food.”

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO is the news assistant. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4298 or by e-mail at christine.carrillo@latimes.com.