Hail to those local and famous chefs

Marisa O’Neil

Forget cutting carbs and counting calories this weekend.

Two gastronomical events in Newport-Mesa will try the hardiest of

constitutions with food cooked up by local and celebrity chefs. Both

events will benefit charity foundations.

Saturday, the Celebrity Chef Tour will bring a four-course dinner

to the Center Club in Costa Mesa, benefiting the James Beard

Foundation for culinary arts. Bruno Maussuger from the ClubCorp chain

of restaurants and Tim Love from the Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth,

Texas, will prepare an upscale, Western-style dinner.

“My cuisine is urban Western,” Love said. “I use a lot of wild

game, fresh fish, anything that grows west of the Mississippi.”

Love, who will ride his horse to the restaurant on Saturday, is

touring with a crew of 25, three tour buses and six horses. He is

also holding a free, chuck wagon-style dinner Friday night at

Wilshire Center Farmer’s Market, he said.

Saturday’s menu will include Quail Leg Confit with Sweet Cranberry

Mojo, Smoked Blue River Trout, Braised Kobe Beef Short Ribs and Earl

Grey White Chocolate Truffles.

On Sunday, the Great Chefs of Orange County event at the Balboa

Bay Club and Resort will benefit the National Kidney Foundation of

Southern California. This is the 19th year for that event.

Chefs from more than two dozen of Orange County’s top restaurants

will cook up their signature dishes. Each chef will offer at least

one sample from his or her restaurant, event spokeswoman Elizabeth

Stover said.

A VIP reception before the event will give people a chance to meet

the chefs in a more intimate setting -- over champagne and caviar,

Stover said.

Last year’s event raised $75,000 for the National Kidney

Foundation, Stover said. This year, they hope to best that figure.

Restaurants participating in the Great Chefs event include 21

Oceanfront, the Golden Truffle, Motif at the St. Regis Monarch Beach

Resort and Spa, the Pavilion at the Four Seasons Hotel and Trouquet.

Mario Martinoli, who covers food and restaurants for KCBS-TV

Channel 2, will serve as master of ceremonies.