Local cuisine kept hot with imported acts

Would you like some blowfish with your pizza?

If so, you may get your chance this September. The Newport Beach

Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that Hootie and the Blowfish

and two other musical acts are scheduled to perform at this year’s

Taste of Newport.

Rounding out the lineup for the three-day festival of local

cuisine are singer Macy Gray and the B-52s.

“Over the years, entertainment has played a big part in the

success of the event,” said Jeff Parker, Chamber of Commerce vice

president.

September will mark Taste of Newport’s 17th year in business, and

the Chamber of Commerce is expecting 70,000 hungry people to eat and

drink at Fashion Island. The event is scheduled for the weekend of

Sept. 16.

For seven years, Taste of Newport has raised more than $140,000

for local nonprofits, according to the chamber. Parker said this

year’s beneficiaries will be selected after the event ends.

Organizations that have received money generated by the event include

the Environmental Nature Center, the Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation

and the Newport Sea Base.

Among the more than 30 local restaurants slated to make an

appearance at Taste of Newport are Gina’s Pizza & Pastaria, Royal

Thai Cuisine and Sabatino’s Lido Shipyard Sausage Company.

Costa Mesa’s Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant, has been a part of

Taste of Newport since the event’s first year, manager Mustafa

Lachger said. This year, he’s expecting Marrakesh to roll out an

array of traditional Moroccan cuisine.

Likely dishes from Marrakesh include couscous, kebobs and bastilla

-- filo triangles stuffed with chicken, spiced eggs and almonds.

Another restaurant scheduled to make an appearance is Newport

Beach’s Taco Rosa. Last year, Taco Rosa made its Taste of Newport

debut months after its opening.

Taco Rosa co-owner Marco Calderon said plans for this year’s event

are still in the works, though he already knows what a part of the

menu will be.

“I think we’ll do some of our wonderful blackened chicken tacos,”

he said. “Then we’ll do some of our carnitas and steak tacos.”

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at [email protected].