Hope reported for duty in a strange place last Saturday. It turned up in the heart of the Monstrosity the Mob Built, the Disneyland of Skin, the Elvis impersanator oasis known as The City of Sin.

I tasted its flavors less than 100 yards from people inhaling celeb chef’s Hubert Keller’s $60 burger with foie gras and truffles, inside Las Vegas’ endlessly multifaceted Mandalay Bay, and within 50 yards of people coughing up upwards of $30 for a chance to sip a single cocktail in a frozen “Ice Bar” that demands obscene amounts of energy to maintain its refrigerated gimmick, in a town where investigative reporter George Knapp, who accessed the Good Fellas ring and broke the Area 51 story, says “nothing is like it seems.”

And hope tasted fantastic. Rick Moonen, the chef-owner behind the snapping fresh oysters, mouthwatering uni and salmon belly nigiri and I lunched on at his RM Seafood, first caught national attention for his groundbreaking work steering people away from endangered swordfish while trendsetting in NYC. The flavor behind, say, his atmospheric ahi tuna duo was already unreal; the fact that he fastidiously sourced the big-eye that went into it is a powerful departure from the wash of sushi joints here and elsewhere that have no regard for fisheries that are threatening to fold worldwide.

I first encountered Moonen’s well-schooled and charismatic campaign for sustainable seafood at the Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions a couple years back. Now the Aquarium authorities have named him 2011’s Chef of the Year.

Xania Victoria Woodman, Vegas icon/writer/editor and bona fide “career carouser,” as her biz card announces, joined me for lunch and later adjourned to the field where Moonen was prepping a “Project Dinner Table” meal for 125 folks sitting at a table 100 feet long in the middle of a field. There she says he somehow dished out whole-roasted Idaho Farms rainbow trout (with Brussels sprouts and double-smoked bacon) from a catering truck for the scores of people of present. Check out his recipe for chicken-fried trout with green tartar sauce and Asian slaw on the blog – and make plans to marinate more hope at Cooking for Solutions in May.

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There are things still worth rooting for in this just-ending election season, like food. From what our reporters gathered, there were some clear winners in the edible exit polls.

Luis Alejo won his race as Salinas City Councilman Sergio Sanchez’s mom won over tastebuds with huevos con chorizo, chile verde and allergy-evacuating homemade salsas. While Seaside mayoral candidates Felix Bachofner and Ralph Rubio conducted a close race, Rubio’s La Villa Taqueria spread of chiles rellenos, chicken enchiladas, pork sopes and fresh fruit platters – all proffered with warm hospitality by proprietress Rosa – crushed Bachofner’s pre-packaged vegetable crudites and Subway sandwiches.

In Marina, Mayor Bruce Delgado and opponent Dave McCall split the vote on their respective Mountain Mike’s Pizza and Costco-esque spread of wraps, meatballs and pot stickers snacks. In the hotly contested sheriff’s race, Mike Kanalakis’ crew summoned some gourmet sandwiches that beat challenger Scott Miller’s pedestrian pizza, although Kano lost the hearts and minds (if not the stomachs) of a clear majority of Monterey County voters.

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Big Sur Food & Wine represents the most sumptuous symptom of the foodification of Big Sur. Few restaurants can hang with Big Sur Bakery’s oven-fired steaks, or Deetjen’s eggs Benedict or Ventana’s view (and scallops). This weekend those unparalleled hubs for the hungry and their Big Sur brethren come together with, oh, nearly 60 hand-picked wineries like ROAR, Roederer and Alma Rosa. They gather in greatest quantities for Thursday’s “gateway” opening at Hyatt Carmel Highlands ($100) and Saturday’s grand tasting at Henry Miller Library ($60/general; $40/resident).

Along with waves of wine dinners, super-savvy panels arranged by wine director Matt Peterson and a big closer at Ventana on Saturday – learn more at www.bigsurfoodandwine.org – that’s a very strong backbone for a badass, albeit infant, eat-and-drink endeavor.

But maybe my favorite thing about the nascent festival might be the unfakeable friendships it’s founded upon. The main organizers are more than double identity talents – Vice Prez Aengus Wagner, for instance, is a world champion ultimate Frisbee hustler, volunteer coordinator Alicia Hahn and VIP liason Rosalia Moon Byrne are gifted fire dancers, and exec expeditor Peggy Giles is a synchronized swimmer – they are pals deeply invested in Big Sur’s welfare (the fest-benefit boosts community education, health and safety).

In other words, the climactic Dinner With Friends on Saturday knows no false title: The bonds the participants enjoy with one another, their fellow hospitality pros in Big Sur and the visiting winemakers is for real real, not for play play.

So is the potential for this fest to go long and strong into the future. As Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery – who has seen his fair share of food-and-wine soirees – wrote event president Toby Rowland Jones after ’09’s year one: “Congratulations on the most successful first time event in which I have ever participated. You hit a home run and deserve the appreciation and gratitude of all.”

Amid the mirth, though, there will be some very heavy hearts, particularly within the close Big Sur community. On Sunday night, local star photographer, Apple Pie Ridge resident and all-around sweetheart Rachel Short, fresh off a beautiful photo show opening in Carmel next to Mundaka, was critically injured in a car crash and is in serious condition; tragically, it looks like major paralysis is the most likely outcome. Hundreds of hearts are with her, certainly, as is a wider plead for mindful Highway 1 driving during events like this. But we would do well to remember maybe the most awe-inspiring elements of Rachel Short’s spirit has always been her eyes – what they show, what they know and what they capture in ways the rest of us only wish we could. May they remain fiery.

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Dear Sergeant Sauerkraut, this would be my kinda boot camp: Studying premium Chard and Pinot berries at scenic and sunny Sheid and Paraiso, rapping with veteran winemakers about harvest times, sampling berries and tracking brix, toasting tastes and lunching al fresco in the heaven-sent Santa Lucia Highlands.

Bus-shuttled boot camps in Carmel Valley and Salinas ($95) are but the beginning of three days of events that soak the county purple with Nov. 12-14’s Great Wine Escape Weekend.

There is also a barrel tasting-appetizer assembly at the Aquarium ($95) and a whole barrel of winery open houses. Other events include an extensive Wine Enthusiast greatest-hits dinner at the Intercontinental ($200); seminars on pairings, stemware and Chardonnay ($85); 13 different meals pulling together profound partnerships like McIntyre and Rio Grill, Parsonage and Forge in the Forest and Carmel Road and Joe Rombi’s ($95); and the big doozy by the bay, Taste the County in 175 Sips ($95), which happens 2-5pm Saturday, Nov. 13.

After 14 years, the Monterey County Vintners and Growers are on their Great Escape game. More info at 375-9400 or www.montereywines.org, where you can also ply interactive maps of vineyards, tasting rooms and other delicious Monterey County qualities.

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For me, one of the spots that jumped off the page when looking over the Monterey Bay Restaurant Week roster was L’Escargot (620-1942). The extra special snail’s been sliming my mind for some time because two worldly Weekly food writers, Jeanne Howard and Tony Seton, have both emerged from relatively recent experiences there thoroughly impressed. For years previous, my predecessor in the food columnist chair, the irascible Ray Napolitano, regularly raved about chef-owner Kerry Loutas’ warmth and way with the kitchen. And it seems the perfect kind of special spot to hit during restaurant week because Loutas will assemble some great trademark tastes that highlight what he does best for a fixed price. Seton stopped by the other day. Check out his thoughts on the blog… Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa just nailed down a spot in Travel + Leisure’s Top 25 Hotel Spas in the U.S. and Canada, a pretty lofty nod that comes on the heels of similarly heady affection from Forbes, a four-star award that only 160 hotels north of Mexico earned… Taste of Monterey (646-5446) is now partnering with no fewer than 37 restaurants who will cork TOM’s wide range of tasty locally grown vinos for free… J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines is Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2010 American Winery Of The Year… Motoko Yagi and her book Healthy Soshoku, Japanese/Simple/Diet Recipes, show for free tastings and a talk 1-3pm Saturday, Nov. 6, at Pilgrim’s Way in Carmel (624-4955)… Rich Pepe’s got a fun contest going: come up with a killer cocktail, have it named after you at Vino Napoli, and win dinner for four at Little Napoli – check out www.pepemag.com… “Elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run,” James Beard award winner Barbara Kingsolver said. “The daily work – that goes on, it adds up.”