`Bite' Me

If it seemed like last year's Bite of Seattle was nothing more than an impenetrable sea of bodies, long lines and a wall-to-wall slam of the eating, roving masses at Seattle Center, you can blame Garth Brooks.

At least Jody May does. Daughter of Bite founder Al Silverman, May says the rope-swinging good ol' boy may have brought an extra 100,000 folks or so to this city's best-known festival of gluttony. When Brooks occupied KeyArena for a week in 1998, the Bite was packed with its largest crowd ever.

The country mogul will be out of town this year, and the christening of Safeco Field should draw the baseball contingent away from the 18th Bite. Considering these two factors, May expects a tamer crowd of a mere 350,000 to 400,000 grazers over three days.

So much for downsizing.

But with 50 food booths opening up temporary shop this year, there should still be enough grub for everybody. So how does each vendor know how much they need to cook up to satiate all of those appetites?

"We tell them to plan for selling a minimum of 4,500 to 5,000 plates for each day of the weekend, which is a conservative number," says May. That estimate is probably the only thing conservative about the indulgent Bite.

For Chef Emily Moore of Europa West, feeding the frenzy is all about preparation and resources. Due to a new project she's starting for creating deli-case and microwave-ready prepared meals, she just so happens to have access to huge amounts of refrigerator and kitchen space. "Doing this amount of food is easy in comparison," she admits. "If you had a regular restaurant with a regular small refrigerator, how could you do it?"

Moore, whose plates will be featured in the invitational Under the Toque area, figures she'll need a team of eight helpers working for six days to prep her mushroom and quail ravioli, cured pork tenderloin and other dishes. And that doesn't include the servers and cooking required for the three days of the event.

The amount of food that chefs require to feed 14,000 people is astounding. Fellow Toque invitee Alex Nemeth of Bandaleone has ordered 2,000 pounds of pork, 200 pounds of shrimp and 2,000 pounds of tomatoes for his offerings of grilled pork and shrimp ceviche. Moore figures she'll need at least 360 quail, 20 pounds of butter, 1,300 pounds of pork, 525 pounds of chicken-apple sausage and 400 pounds of veal bones for stock.

Remembering when the Bite was held on the volleyball fields at Green Lake, Moore admits that the festival is a different beast from the old days when Canlis and the Metropolitan ventured al fresco. "It's changed from the beginning," she says. "It's become a tradition and a crazy thing to do, to people-watch and wander around in the middle of the summer.

"It used to be really down home and a lot of fun. Now, it's more for formulized food and cheaper food, and that makes me sad."

Despite its current mass-scale approach, both she and Nemeth agree that the Bite still does a good job of exposing new diners to the restaurant community. "It's a way for people to go out and not spend a lot of money, and to get an idea of what restaurants are doing. Usually they're people who don't go out to eat a lot," says the Bandaleone chef. "It's a scaled down version of what's out there."

With Seattle's restaurant scene exploding right now, Moore thinks that there is still a lot of learning to do among the eaters in this town. "There are still those people who don't like their tuna rare and send it back, or don't like their salmon unless it's done all the way through. Their tastes are very traditional and provincial," she explains. "And then on the other end, there is that group that is dying to get sophisticated."

Whether you like your tuna lightly seared or nearly cremated won't matter. Regulars of every festival, the gyros people will still be there, as will the Caesar salad folks and the all-time favorite, the strawberry shortcake stand. Ever since the Met stopped bringing its legendary filet mignon steak sandwich to the Bite 10 years ago, Biringer Farms' shortcake has been the No. 1 draw at the festival. "At the end of every night, we have to have three of our staff people at the front of the line to cut them off," sighs May. Being a berry bouncer - now that's a tough gig.

In addition to those little plastic boats bearing little mountains of whipped cream and strawberries, a lot more will be familiar to old-timers. For the frugally adventurous, every booth will have a $2 tasting, and more than 100 free musical and comedy acts will take six stages this weekend.

"We seem to be mega-festival-type folks in Seattle," quips Moore.

It also seems mega-time to mega-eat. -------------------------------

Come on, you can only eat so much. To distract (or relieve) you from your marathon of consumption, allow yourself to be entertained by something other than your compulsive mastication. Chill out to some tunes, guffaw to some comedy, or digest a bit and then boogie away in the dance pavilion.

Big sausage

For the first time ever, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile rolls into town with its oversized, beefy goodness and parks its buns at the Bite. Mustard the courage (har har!) to get a family photo with the giant hot dog on wheels. Get your stuffed tube steak while supplies last: Each day, 150 lucky kids will get an Oscar Meyer Wiener beanie baby. A red-hot collectible has never been so cool.

Kid space

Clay Martin's puppets, the Reptile Man, the Bubbleman and Alleyoop hit the Radio Disney stage, located just inside the Mercer Street entrance, while everybody waits in line to get their faces painted.

Ice ice, baby

Watch what happens when a team of artists take chainsaws to Solid Cold. World champion ice carver Kevin Roscoe and the "Fear No Ice" carving team take frozen water to new levels of expression at least two times daily. The ice scrapades can be checked out on the east side of KeyArena at noon and 3 p.m. Friday, at noon, 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday, and at 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Loudmouths Inc.

Choose to tune in or tune out as dude man Tom Leykis broadcasts live from the Bite tomorrow between 3 and 7 p.m. in Seattle Center Pavilion. Not the kind to hold back, this radio-show host will speak his mind while his fans party down. Former MTV geek Kennedy shows up there earlier on Friday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Music highlights

The Mardi Gras Courtyard (ne Alki Courtyard) sports a jazz bill all weekend long with Ecstasy in Numbers (4:30 p.m. tomorrow); Michael Powers (6:30 p.m. tomorrow); grand dame Edmonia Jarrett (4 p.m. Saturday); and Joe McBride (5:30 p.m. Sunday).

Blessid Union of Soul (4 p.m. Saturday); "The Jenny Jones Show" alums the Afrodisiacs (5:30 p.m. Saturday); and funky Phat Sidy Smokehouse (5:30 p.m. Sunday) show up at the Fountain.

Colors and animals are just a few that are represented on the Flag Stage: Bad Dog Blues Society (12:10 p.m. tomorrow); Charles White (7:10 p.m. Sunday); the Pink Torpedoes (2:10 p.m. Sunday); Voodoo Roosters (4:10 p.m. Sunday); and the Penguins (6:10 p.m. Sunday). The Machine (5:10 p.m. Saturday); the Toyz (6:10 p.m. Saturday); and the Biz (5:10 p.m. Sunday) are also scheduled to appear.

World, pop and rock take over the Mural Stage, with Wes Cunningham (5 p.m. tomorrow); Big Spoon (8 p.m. tomorrow); Colin James (3 p.m. Saturday); Jumbalassy (2 p.m. Sunday); the Push Stars (3 p.m. Sunday); Guarneri Underground (5:30 p.m. Sunday) and others.

HB Radke and 2000 Degrees produce the tunes Friday and Saturday, respectively, in the Flag Pavilion's Dance Palace from 4:45 to 8:45 p.m. (Note: You must be 21 and over to enter.)

Funny lookin'

Local fave Kermit Apio (7 p.m. Saturday) tries to get you laughing at the Comedy Club in the Alki Room, along with Kelly Morgan (3 p.m. tomorrow), Jim Hope (4 p.m. tomorrow 3 p.m. Saturday), David Crowe (2 p.m. Saturday), Mike Moto (7 p.m. tomorrow, 4 p.m. Sunday) and others. ------------------------------- The details

What: Bite of Seattle Where: Seattle Center When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday Admission: free Information: www.biteofseattle.com How to get there: For general information regarding Bite parking, traffic and transportation, call Seattle Center at 206-233-3989.

Monorail: Hop on at Westlake Center, and 90 seconds later you hop off in the heart of the Bite. Ten round trips per hour will run between 9 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. all three days ($1.25 adults, 50 cents kids under 12; 206-411-6038).

Metro Downtown Shuttle: Catch the bus at Second Avenue and Madison or Second Avenue and Mercer. The shuttle operates 10:10 a.m. to 11:04 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with regular stops in between ($1 one-way, $2 all day).

Metro Northgate Park and Ride: If you're heading down to the Bite on Saturday and Sunday, consider leaving your buggy at the Northgate Park and Ride, jump on the bus and get delivered in front of the Intiman Playhouse on Mercer Street. The shuttle heads south every 15 minutes from 9:57 a.m. to 7 p.m., and then every 30 minutes until 10:27 p.m. From Seattle Center, the shuttle heads north every 15 minutes from 10:40 a.m. to 7:40 p.m., and every 30 minutes until 11:10 p.m. Note: There is no Northgate Park and Ride shuttle on Friday ($1 one-way, $2 all day).

Metro Bus Routes: Routes that go directly to the Bite: 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 33 (info: 206-533-3000).

Car-pool parking: You get a discount for every person you drag to the Bite tomorrow through Sunday. If you go solo, parking in designated Seattle Center lots will be $11; bring a friend, it's $10; and bring two or more pals, it's $8. ------------------------------- The scoop

Koala Cafe and Piano Bar. Pianist Michael Grey will be tinkling the ivories all day and all night while you're busy clinking your wine glasses. Featuring a tasting of more than 20 different wines, this little corner of the Bite will give you a place to get off your tootsies, loosen the old belt, and buy a souvenir glass for swishin' and sippin'.

What's gone?

Hinterberger's Alley. Former restaurant critic John Hinterberger retired at the end of last year so his hit parade of favorite eateries will not be represented at the Bite this year.

What's on the menu?

The invitational Under the Toque area, just north of the Flag Pavilion, will serve as this year's gourmet ghetto and some of your best bets.

Assaggio Ristorante tosses fusilli with homemade sausage, currants, pine nuts and arugula in a saffron cream sauce.

Bandaleone fires up the Latin palate with a shrimp ceviche zinged up with habanero and coconut, a cinnamon and chili-marinated grilled pork loin with pozole, and a cold gazpacho.

Chutney's brings a broiled ginger pesto masala fish and tandoori chicken, while Wolfgang Puck goes with a New Zealand lamb chop and a chocolate truffle cake.

Europa West rounds out the Toque's set of offerings with a cured pork loin stuffed with spinach, apricots, prosciutto and walnuts, smoked quail and mushroom ravioli in a lemon thyme and brown butter sauce, and a fruit and berry crisp allied with lavender and honey whipped cream.

Five down, 45 more booths to go.

What's the damage? Well, cheapskates can get away gobbling up the bargain $2 tastes all day. Single plates can be no more than $5.25 and combo plates no more than $6.

What's burning?

A shout-out to all tongues of steel: The Wing Dome hosts four heats a day of its Spicy Bites competition, where mouths impervious to fire chow down on progressively spicier chicken wings. Show no pain, and you win. If you make a peep, beg for water or begin to cry, you lose. Witness the oral masochism in the northeast corner of the Exhibition Hall Lawn. All proceeds benefit the Northwest Burn Foundation.

What gives?

Although longtime participant Northwest Harvest is not represented at the 1999 Bite, you can contribute to Food Lifeline's Second Harvest, another local nonprofit hunger organization. Canned goods or cash donations will be collected at one of two Sprint PCS booths. While you're there, call your parent/sibling/spouse/pal anywhere in the U.S. for free, and thank them for ever feeding you.

If you eat at Safeway's China Express booth, the proceeds from your plate of broccoli beef and fried rice go to benefit Mothers Against Violence in America.