Festival stuffed with wine, food and fun

Mother’s Day came two weeks late for Jill Schuller, but the belated festivities were well worth the wait. It gave Schuller an excuse to partake in the 2007 Food and Wine Festival held over the Memorial Day weekend at The Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach.

Clad in a vibrantly sequenced black Mardi-Gras-themed top, the Costa Mesa resident enjoyed a refreshing New Orleans style brunch buffet all while overlooking the harbor waterfront. In the background a five-piece band knocked out a number of Dixieland favorites.

Starting things off with a Mediterranean-inspired dinner and wine tasting Friday the resort staff stuffed the weekend with a number the best food, spirits and more.

Sunday’s brunch may have appeared pricy at nearly $100 per person but the quality of the food quickly subsided any reservations Schuller’s daughter and son-in-law had about the bill.

“They put out such an effort to use authentic sauces and fish,” Schuller said. “The Bloody Marys were delicious.”

Regular Jay Frerking couldn’t have agreed more. One thing Frerking returns for every year are the varieties of Bloody Marys offered.

“I look forward to them from the time I wake up,” Frerking said.

Frerking and his wife, Cindy Frerking, look forward to the festival so much they have returned every year since 2005. This year their youngest son left for college, giving the couple a few days for a mini-vacation from their busy lives in Mission Viejo.

“We actually plan out Memorial Day weekend around this,” Cindy said. “We’ll keep coming back till they stop inviting us.”

“The hospitality is phenomenal.”

After nearly three days of buffets and exquisite wine tasting, it was time to head home. But not before a little dessert and a chat with chef Daniel Garcia, who discussed many of the plates offered that morning.

He and Executive Chef Josef Lageder victoriously blended items already on the resort’s menu with a New Orleans culinary flare. For instance, the regularly offered trout was served this time with a spicy crab stuffed inside, and the made-to-order omelets included spicy shrimp and sausage, collared greens and crab meet.

Grabbing most of the attention was an enormous paella-style jambalaya. Displayed inside a pan measuring nearly three feet across, the dish offered a smorgasbord of seafood including striped bass, crawfish, sausage, mahi-mahi and even more shrimp.

“Everything is flavorful and pungent,” Garcia said, and it was all inspired by a love for New Orleans.