Taste of Huntington Beach

Sunday, April 20, 2008

This is the second year I have attended this fundraiser. Last year it was held at the Hyatt. This year they had it outdoors at the sports complex next to the library. It is a fundraiser for the Childrens Library.

Its a different group of people that attend this event. More of the younger, beer drinking crowd. I also drink the beer at this event. A lot of micro breweries and they are good. The wines being poured are all lower end. The reps do not bring our the better quality. Most of the reps donate the wines so you will never see top end stuff this event.

They had a very large tent set up and the majority of the food and beverages were inside. The people grilling food were kept on the outside, obviously for fire safety. Their silent auction items this year were more numerous and the food & beverage stands were more abundant. Also a lot more people attending. My biggest peeve was that they allowed minors in. A lot of strollers being pushed around and into people. Little kids running around . You had to be really careful. I don't think these alcohol based events should allow anyone under 21. Since the beer was being poured very fast and set out on the tables a lot of older teenagers were able to take the plastic glasses and drink. It was so crowded that the vendors could not keep up with who was grabbing a glass and who wasn't. I feel it was a very bad decision to allow them access to the event. Of course Huntington Beach's finest who were patrolling the event were outside the gates basking in the sunshine. After we told them what was happening - several hours into the event - they decided to go inside and have a look..

I did talk with the "president" of whatever organization that was putting this event on. She was a older lady who took offense at my questions. She said she could not stop anyone from coming in. I then proceeded to tell her other wine & food events do not allow anyone under 21 to attend and that this was the only one that I have attended that allowed minors and she had a hard time with that. The problem with "volunteers" is that they mean well but most of them have no business or organization skills. They are do gooders but don't "do good".

There were some really great dishes being offered. The Lazy Dog Cafe had a Champagne Mohito which was really good. There was a cheese and macaroni dish with a lobster sauce on top. Ahi Poke. A spicy seafood concoction by Savannah at The Beach, shrimp w/green chilies and papaya. A great shrimp scampi from the Arbors. Kings Fish House had a New Orleans BBQ shrimp made with garlic, lemon, scallions, brown sugar, tomato juice and cayenne pepper and fresh oysters. So we know where I was a lot. Several pizza companies and Tommy's Pastrami was doing sandwiches. The line was too long but their sandwiches are good. The Monkey House had several great desserts. Shades at The Waterfront Hilton was offering crab cakes and they were some of the best I have ever had.

I will definitely attend next year but I do hope they get the problem with "minors" solved