GOOD TASTES.

BORDER GIRLS FOODS

Now you can enjoy tastes of Border Grill and Ciudad restaurants at home. Whole Foods Market is carrying a signature line of the Border Girls products developed by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, the restaurants' owners.

The freshly prepared foods are made by the market according to the girls' recipes, so they match restaurant favorites. Among them are Cuban Fried Chicken Salad, Chicken Meatballs With Minted Chimichurri, Border Guacamole, Beef Brisket Taquitos, Cucumber Quinoa Salad, Tangy Tomatillo Salsa, Smoky Chipotle Salsa and Border Black Bean Dip.

The favorites at a recent office sampling included the guacamole, chicken meatballs, tomatillo salsa, Cuban chicken salad and black bean dip. Most of the items had excellent flavor and a good kick but were not overly spicy. Availability varies from store to store. Prices range from $2.99 for 8 ounces of salsa to $10.99 a pound for beef taquitos. Labels include ingredients but no nutritional information. For a list of all the products available, visit www.marysueandsusan.com.

- Natalie Haugton

WINE & FOOD FEST

Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff invite you to Savor the Night at the 24th American Wine & Food Festival, Sept. 16 from 6-11 p.m., at Universal Studios backlot. Proceeds will benefit Meals on Wheels programs of Los Angeles. Tickets are $275 per person in advance ($325 at the door). Attendees will have a chance to sample food prepared by 40 chefs from throughout the country, along with wines and spirits from 60 purveyors. For more information, visit www.awff.org. To purchase tickets, call [phone].

In addition to this event, in celebration of the festival's 24 years, Spago Beverly Hills (Wolfgang Puck, Lee Hefter and Barbara Lazaroff) is hosting the seventh annual Chefs Grand Tasting Dinner at 6 p.m. Sept. 17. Guest chefs include Mario Batali, Alain Ducasse, Sylvain Portay, Bobby Flay, Nobu Matsuhisa, Eric Ripert and Jacques Torres. Tickets are $750 per person; proceeds also benefit Meals on Wheels. Call Tracey Spillane at [phone] for reservations.

-- N.H.

NEW TRAIL MIXES

Diamond Foods, Inc., has introduced three new trail mixes under its Emerald label. They include Tropical Blend, Breakfast Blend and Berry Blend. They feature medleys of nuts, dried fruits and granola clusters. Unlike other trail mixes on the market, these include Emerald's proprietary sweet glazed almonds and walnuts.

The breakfast mix, which was overly sweet and the least palatable, contains apple chips, dried cranberries, glazed walnuts and almonds, yogurt raisins and granola clusters. The berry flavor, the best of the three with a slightly tart flavor, has dried blueberries, strawberries and cranberries along with glazed walnuts, roasted peanuts, yogurt raisins and granola clusters. The tropical mix, a combination of too many divergent flavors we thought, contains dried mango, pineapple and banana chips, glazed walnuts, cashews, shaved coconut and granola clusters.

Although the berrry flavor was passable, these weren't the best trail mixes we've ever tasted -- and most who sampled probably wouldn't buy them. We'll stick to Diamond's nut products.

Each 5.5- to 6-ounce reclosable foil pouch contains about 5 1/2 to 6 (1/4-cup; 1 ounce) servings with 120 to 130 calories and 5 to 7 grams fat (and no trans-fat) each. Suggested retail is $2.69 per bag at Ralph's and other stores. You'll also find smaller 2.25-ounce bags in convenience stores with price tags of 99 cents each.

-- N.H.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Border Girls products)

(2) no caption (Emerald Trail mixes)