Iron chefs in Newport

Benefit dinner for American Liver Foundation brings out friendly rivalry among area chefs. NEWPORT BEACH -- For Dennis Brask, executive chef at Corona del Mar’s Five Crowns, cooking and serving five courses and dessert to a dozen watching and waiting guests is no big deal.

It’s planning the menu that’s the hard part.

Brask was one of 26 chefs from almost as many Southern California restaurants who came together at Newport Beach’s Fairmont hotel Sunday to cook for charity. They paired multicourse meals with wines for nearly 300 guests at the third annual Flavors of Orange County event, which benefits the American Liver Foundation.

While the chefs prepared most of the food tableside as guests watched, much of the real work happened beforehand, in the planning stages. The menu from the chefs of Chat Noir, a Costa Mesa bistro, was crafted about two months ahead of time, said sommelier Margaux Pierog.

On Sunday afternoon, her table was arrayed with no fewer than six glasses of varying sizes and heights at each seat. Pierog chose a champagne, a port and several wines -- one containing flecks of 24-carat gold -- to go with courses such as rabbit and lobster cassoulet and juniper-brined venison chop.

Although the event was a fundraiser with mostly corporate guests, this was no rubber-chicken dinner. As the chefs set their tables and prepped for the main event, elaborate flower centerpieces blossomed around the room, and nearly every table boasted an unusual type of napkin fold.

Most of the chefs know each other, so there was something of a friendly rivalry about having the nicest table or the best courses.

“It’s not a competition, but you’re watching and being watched,” Brask said.

Many of the dishes sounded exotic, but chef Adam Navidi -- of the Californian at the Huntington Beach Hyatt Regency -- kept it local.

“We’re kind of doing a journey on the California coast,” he explained. That meant spiny lobsters caught off Catalina Island, farm-raised abalone prepared two ways and Pacific sea bass.

Chefs like the event because they can get creative, said Yvon Goetz of Culinary Adventures, a restaurant group that includes Chat Noir. Goetz was the evening’s honorary chef, which means he made sure the chefs had everything they needed and that guests’ glasses were always full.

It’s a challenge to cook in front of people and to always be working on the next course, even while serving the previous one, Goetz said, adding, “It’s like a big version of ‘Iron Chef.’”

This year is Navidi’s second time cooking for the liver foundation, and it’s the first for Brask, though he’s been wanting to get involved for a few years.

The event means more to Brask now, he said, because last month he learned that his younger brother has liver cancer.

Sunday’s dinner was expected to raise about $175,000, event spokeswoman Kristin Martin said.

About 86% of the money will go toward research and helping people who need liver transplants.20060130itvsq1ncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Joe Youkhan, left, executive chef at Chat Noir restaurant, and sous chef John Loxterman prepare truffled crepes at the Fairmont hotel on Sunday. The annual Flavors of Orange County event benefited the American Liver Foundation.20060130itvsthnc(LA)