A Good Taste of the Good Life--for a Good Cause

Wanted: Foodies eager to stuff their faces so that Orange County’s hungry may eat. Requirements: Hearty appetites; ability to cruise escalators and dine at the same time.

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Hundreds of people answered the call when South Coast Plaza tossed its annual Summer Solstice Wine & Food Festival last week on behalf of the Second Harvest Food Bank and the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.

Armed with plates and goblets, guests grazed on food and sipped wine at dozens of tables set up on the second and third floors of the retail area formerly known as Crystal Court.

Up for listening: the hip sound of the Caribbean from the Steel Parade band.

No sooner had 30 Orange County restaurateurs lifted the lids on their mouthwatering fare than Jan Patten of Cerritos--along with 13 of her pals--was on the scene, sampling spicy chicken from Royal Khyber and a crisp chardonnay from the Guenoc winery.

“This is a great event--the idea is to get a little taste of everything and sample wines to learn what you enjoy most,” Patten said. “And it’s all for a wonderful cause.”

Upon arrival, guests were presented with the mandatory equipment: a square plastic plate notched to accommodate a wine glass.

“If I didn’t have a place to hang my glass I wouldn’t have one hand free to eat,” Patten explained. “I’d be walking around holding onto a plate and a glass.”

Up for sampling: everything from down-home burgers from Ruby’s to a chic chocolate concoction from Troquet. “This dessert--Chocolate Megeve--is named after a city in the French Alps,” noted Phil Roberson, general manager of Troquet. “It features a chocolate praline crust filled with chocolate mousse. And it’s made with Valrhona chocolate--the finest in the world.”

Melinda Kust of Huntington Beach swayed to the music of the steel band as she dined on the tidbits of food dotting her plate. “I’m a nibbler,” the slim woman confided. “I like lots of different flavors--so I go for three nibbles of each kind of food from each restaurant.”

Merle Hatleberg--, who in 1986 founded Someone Cares Food Kitchen, observed the festivities from behind a recruitment booth on the second floor.

Hatleberg was soliciting volunteer help. “We need soup kitchen volunteers,” she said. “It’s summer and many of our volunteers are going on vacation. The hours are easy--9 to noon or 1 to 4.” (Call [949] 548-8861.)

Hatleberg used the $60,000 she received from the three past Summer Solstice benefits to make the down payment on the Costa Mesa building where she feeds 200 people, five days a week. “I just turned 76 and my dream now is to pay off the $300,000 mortgage before I go somewhere else,” she quipped.

Sampling pasta from Antonello Ristorante, Tom Seeberg--director of the Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange--said he was grateful for the funds raised by Summer Solstice.

“Our proceeds of about $35,000 from this event will go toward our Bulk Purchase/Agency Credit program,” he said.

“We purchase products that aren’t able to be donated to us on a regular basis,” he added. “And, each quarter we credit the 317 agencies we serve--from church kitchens to shelters--with the money they need for food, depending on the size of the agency and the number of people they serve.”

In Orange County, 400,000 people are at risk of going to bed hungry at some time each month.

Using its resources for food donations, the food bank can serve up to 30 meals for a donation of $1, Seeberg said. “The great thing about this event is that it helps us raise funds and spread the word about the hunger problem in Orange County.”