WE EAT THE CITY II (Taste of Santa Monica)

Let's say you lived in a city that had tons of great restaurants. Like tons. Let's say you wanted to eat at all of them, but they were all fairly expensive, and you had both a shortage of time, money and patience, but a surplus of hunger. Let's say this city heard about you and decided to have a yearly, day-long, reasonably-priced food festival that featured the dishes of forty of said city's great restaurants, all for your immediate and repeated consumption. Oh, what a wonderful city that would be.

Welcome to Santa Monica.

I know I usually nickname places and people, but Santa Monica--previously and soon-again-to-be "Beach City"--deserves her props, because Taste of Santa Monica is not just a novel idea, but also a delectably delicious one.

Taste of Santa Monica, in its seventh session this year, features the notable offerings of the best of Beach City's eateries for one entrance fee that lets you try them all. Drinks are on you, but if you bring your own water, order your tickets in advance from my fabulous friend Goldstar and then park on Main Street instead of closer to the pier, the whole day costs you twenty-five bucks. $25! For samples from FORTY restaurants that are ALL GOOD and leave you STUFFED and HAPPY?!?! In the words of Cartoon SaMo: "This must be what heaven is like."

The event lasted from 12-4pm, but we didn't need the whole time. Starting off at about 12.30, it took us two hours to visit every booth, and even though not everyone in our foodie group of five tried every booth, we all departed with our stomachs full and our feet a little tired, but we felt very proud of our progress. It's definitely going to be a 2009 must-do.

Top Five Tastes, Savory:
1. EL CHOLO MEXICAN RESTAURANT - Green corn tamales (sweet tamale filled with aged cheddar, cheese and ortega chili): Not only was the texture spot on--not at all overcooked, despite the hurried festival delivery--but the portion was a whole tamale (!), and it came paired with a crunchy almond & brown-sugar cookie that almost pushed El Cholo to be one of our top sweet picks. [Website]

2. FAIRMONT MIRAMAR HOTEL - Wild mushroom tartine with an apple frisee salad: One of our first good finds. The mushrooms, served chilled atop a tuffled fromage blanc, were perfectly seasoned, and the salad beside them light and delicious. [Website]

3. LA VECCHIA CUCINA - Penne zingram (pasta served with sundried tomatoes, leeks, zucchini, fresh tomatoes tossed in an olive oil and garlic sauce): Usually I say "pasta is pasta," I'm hardly ever that interested in noodly carbs, but this pasta took the cake with its light, aromatic sauce and two types of tomatoes. Yummy! [Website]

4. OCEAN & VINEAT LOEWS SANTA MONICA BEACH HOTEL - Lobster/shitake ravioli lobster reduction: We ate it too late to truly appreciate it while ingesting, but in post, we were all talking about it! Apparently, hotel food is better than airport food--by a lot. [Website]

5. WOKCANO - Tuna tartare...served on a Dorito: Years of Doritos early in my pre-pubescent youth has made me hate Doritos. So when I saw this, I wanted to groan, "What the f, you lazy fools, can't you give us some real crostini?!" but after deciding to calm down and give it a try, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I've never really liked Wokcano, but this uncooked tuna was the best of the day (it's California; there was a lot of tuna sushi around), and the Dorito...reluctant to say it, but it added a pleasant kick. [Website]

Runner Up, THE ORGANIC PANIFICIO - Fresh bruschetta with crostini and truffle cheese sacchetti: Three cheers for three cheese pasta! [Website]

Top Five Tastes, Sweet:
1. ACADIE HAND CRAFTED FRENCH CREPES - Nutella crepe: What's not to love? And it was fun to watch the crepe makers flips their wrists so expertly. Crepe-making is truly an art, meaning crepes are edible art. Thank you, France. [Website]

2. EVERGREEN TEA HOUSE - Iced matcha green tea: So refreshing and just barely sweet. I went back for seconds. [No website]

3. HOTCAKES BAKES - Red velvet cupcake: Served in a one-bit size with a healthy (or unhealthy) dollop of cream cheese frosting, this cake just may be Sprinkles' rival. Guess I'll have to go back and do a cupcake bake-off. [Website]

4. SPN FOR MAHATMA RICE - Basmati Bombay dream rice pudding: Very dreamy. The rice was a smidge undercooked, but I'll forgive them for the smart addition of bitty almonds they decided to sprinkle on top. [Website]

5. IL FORNAIO - Assorted yummy cookies (though they also had bruschetta al pomodoro and prusciutto melone): I skipped on the savory and took a cookie to go--a buttery number with strawberry jam baked into its soft middle. Delicious, and a wonderful pair to the iced matcha. [Website]

So full, so happy, hooray for heavenly food.