The crowding at the Ta'am Ha'ir [Taste of the City] festival in Tel Aviv was apparent before a soul had set foot on the festival grounds in Hayarkon Park on Monday. An anxious crowd surrounded the grounds' green gates, where costumed sales representatives were posted. For some reason, crowds gathered early this year: Though there was no evidence of burgeoning foot traffic in the early hours of the evening last year, this year, an enormous throng had already assembled by 6:30 P.M.

Could it be that festival founder Ofra Ganor, who also runs the Manta Ray restaurant festival booth, has invented a winning concept? It depends on whom you ask. While many restaurateurs appear to resent their five-day metamorphosis into fast-food vendors, they are absolutely unwilling to forgo the event.

The event evokes memories of youth movement summer camp: Each booth features loud music and a "camper" who stirs up the crowd while a chef, assisted by 10 employees who are dressed in matching uniforms, quickly stirs dishes before a hungry audience.

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Everyone in Rina Pushkarna's booth, of the Tandoori chain, wore traditional, Indian garb as they presided over pots like extras in a Mira Nair movie. The decibels emitted from this booth were heard at a distance, but each time a festival official approached, the volume was lowered, only to be raised again when the responsible party departed.

The adjoining Libra booth had a resounding hit: Paper cones full of seasoned fries for NIS 10 that made children very happy. As many know, youngsters do not always appreciate the finer points of calamari kabobs in yogurt and eggplant, like those offered by Barkarola for NIS 20.

"They're round fries," suggested one mother, regarding the calamari in salsa, until her toddler son finally agreed to sample the dish that grown-ups found so enticing.

Sponsors excluded

Twelve years ago, Ganor founded the festival, in which top Tel Aviv restaurants offer reduced-price menus to allow the masses to sample their wares. Because thousands arrive at the festival grounds each night, one may assume that popular booths earn handsome profits. "The fact is that there are restaurants who have returned here for their 12th year," Ganor notes with satisfaction. "This year, we excluded many sponsors and major commercial concerns from the festival lawn. We wanted to make it possible for the crowd to wander around with a plate and cup and sit on a patch of lawn."

There are indeed fewer commercial entities promoting sales on the lawn this year, but a propensity of gimmicks catches the eye: One booth sells beer glasses that look like two-inch pipes, a home-cooking competition takes place in a large compound as a crowd cheers competitors, and diners, seated on the lawn, mainly swap information.

This year, the festival is slated to continue for four nights (until tomorrow), and 19 restaurants and about 100 booths will offer food. Some restaurants are taking part in the festival for the first time, like Mina Tomei, chef Nir Zuk's restaurants and Barkarola from Kfar Sava, which is the first restaurant outside of Tel Aviv to be featured in the festival. Veteran restaurants that have participated for many years in a row, like Tandoori, Manta Ray and Kimmel, appear beside them.

Health and organic food purveyors played a prominent role in the booths this year: One booth offered only fruit smoothies, while another focused on wild berries, including local raspberries. A booth that proffered vodka laced with laughing gas also attracted the attention of festival guests.