Taste of Newport is more than just bread and butter

We agree with Jeff Parker of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. The Saturday night of this year’s Taste of Newport ? Sept. 16, to be precise ? is “just going to be the place to be in Newport Beach.”

The chamber last week announced the line-up for the main performers at the Taste, which runs Sept. 15 to 17 in Newport Center, and the Go-Go’s ? the Los Angeles all-girl band that is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its first album ? play Saturday night. Friday night’s headliner is alternative rock band Smash Mouth, and on Sunday ? the quiet day of the taste, right? ? Kenny Loggins will take the stage.

It’s another diverse line-up for an event that has solidified itself as a major social scene in town. Thousands of people crowd the event, gobbling up delectable dainties (and some hard-core mini-entrees), squeezing through the crowds that pack the Taste.

Most, of course, come for the food and drink.

This year, 35 restaurants will be taking part, including three high-profile new restaurants in town, all of which are connected to revamped hotels: Sam and Harry’s Steakhouse at the Newport Beach Marriott, bambú at the Fairmont, and Pavilion at the Island Hotel.

But the performances are also a big draw, and the chamber always manages to pull in acts that ? while maybe not chart-toppers this year ? have wide and vast appeal, if not a little kitsch.

Now the Taste of Newport is nearly two months away. But that doesn’t mean it’s too early to get excited about the food, the drinks, the crowds and the bands. Just think of it as something to look forward to once summer is gone.