Sunshine MagaZine Exclusive.... A Delicious Summer SoIstice Dinner Of Chocolate Indulgence... Avanti Cafe... Costa Mesa....

"Eat Well//Live Well" Avanti Cafe... 259 E. 17th Street... Costa Mesa  949 548 2224 

RAW white gazpacho shooter with bitter choco cracker

Mesquite cacao roasted corn & apricot salad with creamy pepita drizzle

Ed Melliza says "It's Delicious!"

Enjoying our salads....  Mmmmmm.....  Photo: Ed Melliza

Real Housewives of OC's  Lynne Curtin & guest John



Roasted organic poblano stuffed with herbed organic brown rice risotto....  Served with Berbere spiced sauce & toasted cacao nibs

Bridget Reilly proprietor of the Bite Market in Orange

Ed Melliza & Bryson Kahawanu Igarta 

Chef Raya with delicious organic produce from Mellisa's

Chef Mark Cleveland serves RAW & Vegan house made 'cheez' plate...  Sprouted almond blackberry cheez with barrel aged Balsamic, oven dried savory & sweet strawberries, citrus roasted & chipotle dipped cippolini onion

Summertime roasted vegetable polenta napoleon with whole roasted garlic cloves, shallots, cherries & almonds with organic cream sause, lightly scented with mace



Avanti Cafe's Chef  Tanya Fuqua

Cocoa & quinoa waffle with chocolate mousee & red grapes served with lightly roasted red plums stuffed with double chocolate sorbet 

Lance Perkins, Real Housewives of OC's Lynne Curtin & Guest

Avanti Cafe Chef Mark Cleveland (2nd from left), Chef Tanya Fuqua (pink shirt) & Chef Raya (wearing hat) with happy guests at the Summer Solstice Dinner of Chocolate Indulgence

"We Had Fun!"

Bryson Kahawanu Igarta, Bridget Reilly, Harrison Held & Lance Perkins... Photo: Ed Melliza

We had a very enjoyable & very healthy dinner last nite at Costa Mesa's Avanti Cafe at 259 E. 17th Street. Avanti means forward in Italian.  Avanti's culinary philosophy integrates the best of traditional European & Asian healthful eating with the latest information for optimum health.  Award winning talented chefs Raya Belna, Mark Cleveland & Tanya Fuqua & staff prepared delicious organic food for our Summer Solstice Dinner of Chocolate Indulgence which I heard about through event producer Lance Perkins.  I'm a chocolate lover and I'm really interested in eating healthy so this event really piqued my interest.  The last event I attended that Lance was involved in was the 40th anniversary of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate factory  (he is the Chairman and Producer of Chocolate: The Event's Celebrity Chef Talent Awards)  & it was a blast - last nite's dinner was a lot of fun, delicious & worth the drive to Orange County!   It was nice to see  Lance again & chef Bridget Reilly (from the Bite Market) - an award winner at Chocolate: The Event and at the OC Tastefest,  photographer Ed Melliza and Bryon Kahawanu Igarta who's with organic produce company Mellisa's.  Mellisa's supplies Avanti's produce and their products really are delicious!  Sitting one table over from us was Real Housewives of OC's Lynne Curtin & friend John...  A Great Event! HH(:

Harrison Held's SceneAroundTown... Chef Ben Ford at The Grove...Tam O'Shanter Celebrates It's 90th Birthday In Style... The LA Beat Celebrates It's First Anniversary... Donna Spangler's Flexin' 4 Dollars Benefits OneMama.org.... August Wilson's "Jitney" Opens at the Pasadena Playhouse... & More... HH(:

Actor/Entertainment Reporter Harrison Held & Chef Ben Ford  Photo Credit Emily Ford

Chef Ben Ford  of Ford's Filling Station was on hand at The Grove for the 2012 Dole California Cook-Off  summer taste sensation where he prepared many of his famous dishes and judged a live cook-off competition with three other judges.  The fun feel good family event also  featured lots of Dole product samples, raffles and plenty of warm California sunshine.  Congratulations to Jeannette Nelson on her $10,000 first prize!  HH(:

Actor/Entertainment Reporter Harrison Held at Table 31...  Walt Disney's Favorite Table at The Tam O'Shanter

Atwater Village's famed Tam O'Shanter Restaurant celebrated its 90th birthday in style with family, celebrities, elected offiials, media and long time restaurant patrons.  The Tam is one of Los Angeles' oldest and favorite family run restaurants.  It was founded in June 1922 by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp who also founded Van de Kamp's bakeries and Lawry's The Prime Rib Restaurant.  Some of the special guests on hand for the celebrations along with the Frank & Van de Kamp families was luminary Margaret O'Brien, Beverly D'Angelo, Kate Linder, Wedil David, Barbara Van Arden & husband Elton, Erin Murphy, Barry & Stanley Livingston, Glendale Mayor Frank Quintero, Senator Carol Liu, Supervisor Mike Antonovich, Assemblyman Mike Gato, Congressman Adam Schiff and many others.  Legendary British musician Ian Whitcomb did a great job MCing and performing Tin Pan Alley music with The Bungalow Boys while councilman Tom LaBonge did a great job MC'ing  the proclamation portion of the event.  The restaurant features the unique Storybook-style architecture of Hollywood set designer Harry Oliver.  Table 31 was Walt Disney's favorite table where he would sketch and doodle many of his cartoons.  The Tam also hosted the likes of  silent movie star Rudolph Valentino, Fatty Arbuckle, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Dorothy & Lillian Gish, Theda Bara, Gloria Swanson & many others.  Happy 90th "Tam"...  I'm looking forward to your Centennial in 2022!  Special Thanks to the Frank & Van de Kamp families, general manager John R. Lindquist & Roland Communications for a very memorable, tasty and enjoyable event...  HH(:

The South Coast Repetory's production of August Wilson's "Jitney" opened at the Pasadena Playhouse to an enthustiastic full house.  The award winning play takes place in Pittsburgh's Hill District - a neighborhood that legitimate cabs will not travel to.  Out of these circumstances gypsy cabs - jitneys - emerge to the drive the locals around.  The year is 1977 and the play is a dramatic & poignant flashback to that era....   HH(:

Donna Spangler's Flexin -4- Dollars

Celebrity Beauty & Fitness Expert Donna Spangler hosted the fun well attended Flexin-4-Dollars Summer Soiree at her Beverly Hills estate. The event was a fun fundraiser to benefit ONEMAMA.ORG (www.onemama.org) which helps women in Uganda deliver their babies safely.  Lots of fun people at this eVent... with good  food  courtesy of chef Reagan Moore Jr of Lola's, desserts from Celebrity Chef Kurt Ehrlich of the Hollywood Pasta Company, spirits from Lorimar Vineyards & Winery and H20 from Jeffrey Carrillo's Starfire Water....   Thanks to Roger Neal PR 4 the Invite....  HH(:

The LA Beat's Bob Lee, Elise Thompson & Happy Peaceful Guest (:

Good Times at the LA Beat's First Anniversary Party hosted by owners Elise Thompson & Bob Lee....  Congratulations on the first year of publication of your excellent online magazine! HH(: