RESTAURANT REVIEW:

It didn’t take long for word to get out among the crowd at the Taste of Huntington Beach that the Lazy Dog Café was serving champagne mojitos.

The traditional mojito utilized sparkling wine instead of rum and the line for the drink soon grew to double digits.

Lazy Dog Café Corporate Chef Gabriel Caliendo said the restaurant was auditioning the drink and was pleased with the response.

“It was a big hit,” Caliendo said. “There’s no better test market than 2,000 people.”

The café wasn’t the only one testing the taste buds of attendees who enjoyed the sunny spring day at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex. There were about 45 restaurants, wineries and businesses at Sunday’s event that has grown so much in its eight years that it was moved this year from the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa to the sports complex.

The venue allows restaurants a chance to show off dishes and, in the case of Mother’s Market, try and dispel a misnomer about the company.

“A lot of people think we are just a store,” Luis Patino, manager said. “We have so much more than that. The deli offers a lot of fresh, healthy foods.”

The chicken salad with udon noodles they were offering was quite good. Green cabbage, jalapeños, bell peppers and carrots were mixed with seasoned chicken breast and udon noodles in a ginger dressing that including sesame oil, tamari and garlic.

It seemed several restaurants were passing out dishes and information about their restaurant.

Sam’s Seafood has been an institution in Sunset Beach since the ’50s and not even a devastating fire in 1960 could put the restaurant out of business.

New owners Chuck and Susan Purrington, and Christopher and Sara Fenoglio decided to change the name of Sam’s to Kona and will be debuting a new menu and entertainment the first week of May.

“We still want to keep the Polynesian theme,” Chuck Purrington said. “We just wanted to update the name and the look of the restaurant.”

They are doing that by adding live entertainment, including karaoke on Thursday nights, instituting a $2.95 happy hour for some appetizers and selected drinks, and hosting a Sunday brunch buffet.

Arbor’s is also getting a remodel. The steak and seafood restaurant has added a couple new menu items and has transformed the dining room, including replacing most of the tableware.

“We wanted to change things around,” said Brian Ritchie, who along with his fiancée, Jennifer Ruffalo, took over ownership of the landmark recently. “We want to keep the regulars happy, because we have a lot of them, but we also wanted to bring in a new crowd at night.”

Savannah at the Beach is also hoping for increased business and was enticing patrons with its classic spicy voodoo shrimp cocktail. The shrimp, seasoned with green chilies and papaya, are served in a martini glass and provide just enough kick without scorching the mouth.

Another fiery dish was the New Orleans barbecue shrimp served by King’s Fish House. The Bella Terra mall occupant sautés shrimp with garlic, lemons, scallions, brown sugar, tomato juice and cayenne pepper.

To counteract some of the hotter dishes, Pomodoro was offering a butternut squash, made with brown butter, sage and Amaretto cookie crumbles. It is a traditional Italian holiday dish, but the restaurant serves it year round.

The Monkey House Café provided the perfect end to the day with an array of dessert samples. The chocolate and caramel square was very rich and extremely tasty. The favorite of many appeared to be the chocolate chip, coconut and macadamia nut cookies.

JOHN REGER reviews restaurants for the Independent.