A great Taste draws to a close

The 17th annual Taste of Newport wrapped up its weekend of

festivities Sunday with large crowds, mouth-watering food and live

music from Hootie & the Blowfish.

“It’s been terrific,” said Richard Luehrs, president and chief

executive officer of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. Luehrs is

also a co-founder of the three-day food celebration.

He estimated attendance for the weekend at around 65,000, similar

to last year’s.

More than 30 Orange County restaurants participated in this year’s

Fashion Island event, each dishing out samplings of their finest

appetizers, entrees and desserts.

Michael Lerner of San Bernardino said that of everything he

tasted, the tri-tip steak sandwich from the Pavilions booth was his

favorite.

“It’s just so sweet,” Lerner said. “The meat comes out so lovely

and rare -- it has a very interesting and wonderful flavor.”

Irvine resident Juliana Murphy said the Taste of Newport is a

tradition for her and her friends. She said Friday nights have been

too hectic the past couple of years, so she decided to come on Sunday

this year.

“This is a great way for new restaurants to promote themselves,”

Murphy said, pointing to a new addition to Newport Coast, Pomodoro

Cucina Italia, as an example.

She said Pomodoro was serving a roasted butternut squash ravioli

that was extremely pleasing to the palate.

Another favorite dish of Murphy’s was the crunchy ham roll and the

calamari salad offered by Newport Beach sushi restaurant Kitayama.

Luehrs, who sampled just about every dish from every booth at

Taste of Newport, said it’s tough to choose a favorite, but he’s

partial to the blackened scallops from Soprano’s and the lobster

bisque from the Balboa Bay Club.

“We have our favorites, and then there are always new offerings,”

he said. “I don’t have a favorite restaurant, I have favorite

dishes.”

Tom Hopkins of Newport Beach said his preferred offering was the

prime rib from Five Crowns.

Hopkins, who visited Taste twice this year, said he comes almost

every year.

“It seems like it’s getting bigger,” Hopkins said. “They put on a

good show.”

Along with gourmet samples, the Taste of Newport has become known

for its live music.

This year’s festivalgoers heard the sounds of Macy Gray on Friday,

the B-52’s on Saturday and Hootie & the Blowfish on Sunday.

“I like the music; I came to hear Hootie & the Blowfish,” said Jim

Richardson, an Aliso Viejo resident.

Richardson said he is opening a new restaurant, Newport Kantina,

in Newport Beach at the end of October. He wanted to check out the

event because he plans on participating next year.

Luehrs said all proceeds from the Taste of Newport go to local

charities.

“We have given out more than $150,000 in the past five or six

years since we started the Taste of Newport Grant Program,” Luehrs

said. He said the grants are usually $2,500 to $5,000.

This year, he said the committee in charge of disbursing the money

will probably delegate some of the funds to the Hurricane Katrina

relief effort.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM is the news assistant. She can be reached at

(714) 966-4625 or lindsay.sandham@latimes.com.o7

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