‘Taste’ full-flavored

Jeff Benson

The 16th annual Taste of Newport is more than ever about family fun

and family entertainment, and perhaps no one feels stronger about

that than Richard Luehrs.

Each year, the president and chief executive of the Newport Beach

Chamber of Commerce and co-founder and backbone behind the three-day

Taste of Newport event sees his own family get more and more involved

with the festivities.

Luehrs’ wife, Susan, is vice president and director of marketing

for Wells Fargo’s Orange County region. Wells Fargo became the

event’s main sponsor after years of co-sponsorship. His two children,

Samantha, 11, and Ricky, 7, are among the youngest veterans to work

the bottled-water booth -- a popular hangout in Sunday’s heat.

Samantha, a sixth-grader at Our Lady Queen of Angels School in

Newport Beach, said she’s well aware of the big changes to hit the

event this year.

“I like the machine that swipes the cards,” Samantha said. “Last

year, we just had tickets, but I like this year because you can use

credit cards to buy things.”

Luehrs said between 30,000 and 35,000 people showed up on the

first two nights, a number he expected. Sunday afternoon was milder,

but the crowd began to pick up when the weather cooled.

Several new restaurants dished their first bites on Taste of

Newport’s plate this year, including Daphne’s Greek Cafe, Taco Rosa,

Pomodoro Cucina Italiana and The Melting Pot. But the longtime

restaurants, such as Corona del Mar’s Five Crowns restaurant, have

kept the event so successful for so long, Luehrs said.

Five Crowns Executive Chef Dennis Brask said he’s worked at the

event in various roles since its inception, but his reasons for

attending each year are simple. He supports the Chamber of Commerce

in its fundraisers and likes the name recognition the restaurant gets

by everyone who tries his prime-rib sandwiches and creme brulet.

“Since the beginning, we’ve tried all sorts of things, from pasta

to crab cakes to sandwiches,” Brask said. “We’re not compromising

quality, and we’re doing it at a level you’d expect from a

special-occasion restaurant.”

Whether it was the bevy of custard desserts, the lobster tail and

vegetables at Josh Slocum’s Restaurant, the chicken satay at Royal

Thai Cuisine or the baby-back ribs at Clayton Shurley’s Real BBQ,

there was something for everyone.

That’s also the same attitude event organizers had about the

star-studded musical lineup, with crowd-pleasers Berlin, Blondie and

Kool and the Gang taking the stage on consecutive nights.

Entertainment producer Gerald Ishibashi said his company, Stonebridge

Productions, scheduled Berlin and Blondie on Friday and Saturday to

reflect a more adult party atmosphere and invited the more modest

Kool and the Gang to perform at an earlier time Sunday.

“We had a phenomenal reaction when Blondie was here,” he said. “It

was world-class entertainment and a world-class presentation. There

was a sea of people from the front of the stage to the back of the

venue.”

Luehrs said he felt the audience wasn’t too crowded on either of

the first two nights, comparing them with the massive crowds who saw

Sugar Ray at the Taste of Newport last year.

“Something people know by now is when you get here, we’ve got a

party for you,” Luehrs said. “It’s a celebration of the Newport Beach

community with incredible entertainment and a plethora of fine-dining

establishments.”

* JEFF BENSON is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at jeff.benson@latimes.com.