Newport taste test

Plump golden crab cakes, juicy prime rib sandwiches, vegetable couscous, and plenty of wine and martinis.

Just a simple description of the delectables offered at the 18th annual Taste of Newport will leave you drooling.

Along with some longtime staples, eight new restaurants showcased their dishes for the first time at the Taste of Newport, held in Newport Center through Sunday. For the newcomers, the Taste of Newport is the perfect opportunity to show off their best recipes and generate interest in their restaurants.

Mike Biello is an owner of Chronic Cantina, the newest restaurant to move into Triangle Square in Costa Mesa. Biello owns several Chronic Taco restaurants in the area, but Chronic Cantina is his first sit-down restaurant. They’ve only been open three weeks and thought the Taste of Newport would be an excellent introduction to the community.

“As far as Mexican food goes, I think we’re probably one of the best ones out there,” Biello said.

The potato tacos — a traditional Mexican taco — have so far been their most popular dish at the Taste of Newport, Biello said.

The new Fairmont hotel’s restaurant Bambu brought out some seasonal offerings to lure in fine diners. When deciding what to serve at the Taste of Newport, the chefs consider the time of year and time of day people will be eating, executive sous chef Donald Lockhart said. Items like the tequila drunken ceviche and Asian flat iron steak are summertime dishes, Lockhart said.

The restaurant also wanted to ensure their dishes were unique but not too exotic, he said.

“We also want to be comfortably familiar,” Lockhart said. “Not too everyday but something people can relate to.”

Sam and Harry’s, one of the additions in the multi-million-dollar remodeling of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa, brought their best to their Taste of Newport debut: the famous jumbo lump crab cakes.

“We have the best crab cakes, if not in the county, but in all of Southern California,” said the restaurant’s Laura Mettler.

The crab cakes are one of the menu items that exemplifies the Washington, D.C.-based steakhouse, Mettler said. The restaurant has been doing well since opening in January, but an appearance at the Taste of Newport is sure to increase the appeal, Mettler said.

“Being a newer restaurant in the community, a lot of people haven’t had the chance to discover us,” Mettler said.

While the lines were still minimal Saturday afternoon, people hopped from booth to booth, stopping to enjoy their food and to drink at tables in the center.

For Michael Dixson and Christina Mathews, the Taste of Newport was a food destination. Before leaving Los Angeles for Newport Beach, they said they spent all day resting and fasted to save room for the feasting.

“I think we want to eat everything,” Mathews said.

The couple started with lasagna from Mama D’s and moved on to a tri-tip sandwich from Pavilions market.

“We’ll eat almost anything,” Dixson said.

A few tables down, Jim and Joanne Fosnight, of Salem, Ore., were just getting started with a bowl of paella from Tapas Restaurant. They said they didn’t have a food agenda and were open to recommendations from locals.

Five Crowns has been serving prime rib sandwiches and creme brulee every year since the Taste of Newport began, Executive Chef Dennis Brask said.

“I would probably be lynched if I didn’t bring the prime rib sandwich,” Brask said.

Although appearing at the Taste of Newport isn’t a huge money-making opportunity for the Corona del Mar staple, it gives them a chance to profit in other ways, Brask said.

“This is really our public,” Brask said. “We want to be out here talking to our guests.”