After just one year, the Taste of Beverly Hills is no more. Or is it?

Last Labor Day weekend, the city of Beverly Hills kicked off its inaugural Taste of Beverly Hills festival on a date that coincided with the city’s iconic ZIP code: 9-02-10.

Since the event drew about 10,000 people, city officials hoped that Taste of Beverly Hills promoter and stager Best Events of Los Angeles would make it an annual tradition.

But this year, Best Events plans to fold it into a combined event in partnership with the Tribune Co.’s Los Angeles Times and American Express Publishing Corp.’s Food & Wine magazine. The Labor Day weekend food festival – to be held at sites in Beverly Hills and Hollywood – would be headlined simply, The Taste.

The Taste of Beverly Hills moniker wouldn’t disappear entirely, but would be a secondary programming element. And, assuming that Best Events can get the necessary city permits, the festival would be moved from its location last year on the old Robinsons-May grounds next to the Beverly Hilton Hotel to Roxbury Park on Olympic Boulevard near Century City.

“We decided it was advantageous for us to collectively join our efforts and create a combined unified festival with multiple locations across the area,” Best Events co-founder Johnathan Crocker told the Beverly Hills City Council.

But relegating the Taste of Beverly Hills name to secondary status did not sit well in Beverly Hills City Hall.

“It’s contradictory to everything I worked on last year to make this a Beverly Hills issue and a Beverly Hills brand,” said Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad. “It takes away from our brand.”

Delshad said he would not support giving city permits for the event at Roxbury Park unless Beverly Hills was returned to prime position in the event marketing.

Restaurant operators in Beverly Hills were mixed on the name change. “While it might appeal to a broader geographic audience, you’re going to lose the exclusivity and the cachet of having the name Beverly Hills,” said Joey Sapone, director of marketing for Crustacean Beverly Hills.

But one restaurant operator welcomed the move: the Farm of Beverly Hills, which has three restaurants.

“This would allow us to expand our reach, market all three stores and hopefully get a larger group of people into all three of our restaurants,” said Managing Director Kelli Richardson.