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The ocean view out the wall of windows at Hyatt Carmel Highlands' Pacific's Edge restaurant last night was as endless as the tastes within.

The black-tie crowd worked its way through pours from 36 wineries and tastings from 16 top local chefs while the lights dimmed over the Pacific Ocean. Among the highlights:

• A succulent cube of pork belly over a sweet-corn-and-onion pancake by Mark Ayers of Cannery Row Brewing Company. The taste invoked a farmhouse kitchen in the American Southeast—warm and homey.

• Foie gras torchon with caramelized banana and beet gastrique from Brandon Miller of Mundaka. The torchon gave the fattened duck liver a smooth texture more like silky tofu. Honestly, I'd never understood the big whoop over foie gras, which is now illegal to sell in California. After this dish, I get it.

• Korean street taco on shizo leaf from Rio Grill. The pulled braised short rib, tender and just a little sweet in its juices, didn't need a lot of dressing up to stand out among fancier fare.

• Cantinetta Luca's decadent spread of cheeses (including a foresty truffle cheese and house-stretched mozz), olives, bocarones (Spanish-style white anchovies) and paper-thin cured meats including prosciuttos and salames.

• Big Sur Bakery's bread with a variety of spread options, including uni butter, foie gras butter, bacon & chives butter and chicken-liver paté. The butter flavors were subtle and refined, especially with gourmet pink and purple salts sprinkled on top. The paté is a 200-year-old grandma's recipe wrapped in secrecy.

• The Cheese Shop of Carmel was there, of course, with its wild spread of exotic international cheeses. Kent Torrey teased one taster with a mystery slice. "Smell the cheese," he told her. "You'll be singin' Beach Boys." The source: Koko's, a full-flavored blend of coconut cream and cow's milk.

• Cal Stamenov of Bernardus brought me back to the flavors of my Syrian grandma's cooking with his Turkish lamb tartare with spicy chickpea, lemon confit and tangy Mediterranean-style yogurt.

• Everyone seemed to be talking about the abalone from Pacific Edge's own Michael Bolton, but the flavor I brought home was the sous vide King salmon with toasted uzo from Adam Nichol of OneUp Restaurant. It's a good thing when fish tastes like butter from the sea.

• I took it pretty easy on the wine, but two particularly stood out: the Cab Sav from Napa's Corison Winery and the Syrah from Miura, with single-vineyard grapes from Monterey County's own Pisoni Vineyards. Both were tart and dry with a round fruity finish, just the way I like my reds.