Weekend Festivities to Chew On

This weekend you can get your fill of fabulous food and fine wines, contribute to some worthy causes and gain a few pounds. Forget we ever mentioned the latter. It was just a slip of the lip.

And here are the pleasures that are in store.

It’s Great Chefs Dinner No. 2 for the Craft & Folk Art Museum on Saturday night at Max au Triangle. With this special evening the museum is celebrating “The Art & Craft of Fine Food” as well as honoring museum founder and director emeritus Edith R. Wyle upon her retirement. For such a gala occasion Max’s master chef, Joachim B. Splichal, is going all out, preparing a six-course gourmet dinner and choosing vintage wines to accompany each course. For the black-tie-clad guests there will be a champagne reception before the dinner and dancing throughout the evening to Clark Keene’s music. The party also has its innovative touch--a weigh-in. It’s a chance for some lucky soul to win his or her weight in vintage wines and champagnes donated by various wineries. And if that lucky soul is leery of revealing his or her weight, he or she can delegate a friend as a stand-in. Clever idea. And wouldn’t you know the French thought it up? The followers of the late Aga Khan did a similar weigh-in. But there the payoff was in gold.

Chairing the evening is Diana Munk, who has people like Carmela Speroni, Judith Stark, Donna Wheeler, Lois Howard, Marva Shearer and Kitty Winston backing her up. Patrick H. Ela is the museum’s executive director.

Sunday afternoon it’s the Kidney Foundation of Southern California saluting “The Great Chefs of L.A.” on the roof garden of Le Bel Age Hotel. Chef Roy Yamaguchi of 385 North is coordinating the whole event, which will have 20 restaurants and 16 wineries participating.

From 3 to 6 p.m. there will be feasting on the best from the Siamese Princess, Le Chardonnay, the 7th Street Bistro, the Bombay Palace, Colette, La Toque, Orleans Cajun-Creole Restaurant, Trumps, Ristorante Chianti Cuchina and other L.A. hot spots. To accompany each bite there will be sips of the best of Domain Chandon, Acacia Winery, Pine Ridge, Trefethen, Beaulieu Vineyards and other wine makers.

Television’s Pernell Roberts is honorary chairman. Co-chairing the moving feast are Mary Jo Chism, Dr. David A. Goldstein and Yona Nadelman. And serving on the benefit committee are Nona Ziv, Hank Meyer, Dr. Dominick Gentile, Don Ferris, Judy Moore, Wendy Roebuck, Hank Rosenzweig, Rosemary Tobin and a few more hard workers.

It’s unusually quiet in Los Angeles (but not to worry, it’s only a temporary lull) now that the five-day house party staged by the local Friends of French Art for their French counterparts has come to an end. It all wound up rather elegantly at a Fete de Printemps at the J. Paul Getty Museum on Monday night. Because of security regulations at the world’s best-endowed museum, the farewells came at 10 p.m. Otherwise some of the guests might still be there dreamily admiring the Getty’s treasures. (The party raised money to pay for hands-on internships for American and French scholars in museums in both countries.)

Monday afternoon a thoughtful hostess, Beverly Morsey, kept her out-in-the-patio luncheon to a neat 90 minutes so the French could go back to the Westwood Marquis and primp or nap before the Getty fete.

The French were Mrs. Morsey’s guests of honor, of course--Princess Alyette de Ligne, Count and Countess Bruno de Boisgelin, Baroness Guy Van Der Scheuren, Baroness du Breuil, Count Charles-Andre Walewski, Baron Roland de L’Espee, Xavier Guerand-Hermes, Olivier Le Fuel, Mme. de Malleray de Parre, Mme. Serge Bortat and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cointreau who introduced a new cocktail, Cointreau Royal (a blend of Cointreau liqueur, framboise and champagne) to the group. Evelyn Lambert, who stages her own house parties and tours of the Palladian homes and gardens near her villa at Vicenza, Italy, joined the friendly group. And so did a few locals who are fluent in French and kept the conversational ball rolling--Elin Vanderlip, FOFA founder who had entertained everybody at a luncheon-swim party at her Palos Verdes home Sunday; Lehman Katz; the Henry Bergers; Jacques Camus, and Beverly’s son, Mark Lohman. The very California luncheon menu included curried chicken salad with papaya and an array of kiwi, strawberries and melon.

The French were exposed to a Texas-style barbecue and some prize-winning koi Sunday night at the home of Jack Lowrance and Max Eckert (Max is now in Portugal photographing private gardens for Town & Country). There were some bright young Americans around, too, to balance the mix--Mark and Janet Lohman, and Suzie Nixon and Bill Yoemans, who plan to marry soon.

The Social Scramble: Tutta Roma will turn out for Nancy Reagan on her solo (the President will be otherwise occupied in Bonn) two-day visit to that city. Before she departs Saturday, she will have attended a dinner in her honor hosted by U.S. Ambassador and Mrs. Maxwell Rabb and a luncheon given for her by her California chums, Ambassador to the Vatican William A. Wilson and his wife, Betty.

California Institute of the Arts President and Mrs. Robert J. Fitzpatrick and the institute’s board will host a reception Thursday at the Fitzpatrick home for a couple of good reasons. One is to honor master of the sitar Pandit Ravi Shankar, who will receive an honorary degree at CalArts’ 15th graduation ceremonies. The other is to welcome new trustees Barry Diller, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon and Robert D. Wilke.

Sharing the chicken and red peppers and the eggplant at Palette were Rusty and Zena Hoffman, who is chairing the Cedars-Sinai Sweepstakes luncheon Nov. 6 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Reservations are limited to 200, and Zena has more than 100 in hand. She also has a firm promise from Henri Mastey that he will underwrite the luncheon.

Dining at Le Restaurant a few nights back--Nancy and Zubin Mehta with his parents, the Mehli Mehtas, Olive Behrendt and Gregory and Veronique Peck. In a quiet corner of the Hotel Bel-Air’s restaurant were Cecily and Bud Wheelon with Gwen Davis, who has finished a new novel--and a musical. And on a Sunday evening at Trader Vic’s--Marie and George Goman with Father Maurice Chase; Jerelyn and Doyle Cotton with Alice Hartfield and Gregg Juarez; Ruth and Tom Jones; Dr. Bill and Lady Dodge.

The Carlo Celoni fan club met over lunch at Jimmy’s to wish their favorite fella lots of luck and happiness in whatever new venture he chooses. (Celoni is no longer with Gucci’s.) And to remind Carlo of the occasion when they autographed their favorite spots on a world map that made the rounds of the lunch bunch. Hostesses Francine Maroney (she’s working on a portrait of Carlo) and Marilyn Gilfenbain led the toasters, who included Sybil Brand, Grace Lowell, Stephanie Rosenbloom, Babbs Shoemaker, Dodo Gayle, Marilyn Katleman, Louise Siegal, David Brown, Barbara Firestone, Bob Gilbert, Kati Domyan (the former Katalin Szoke, a Hungarian swimming champ who was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the end of last month), Ellen Pollon and quite a few more.

Tod Matthews surprised Anne Douglas with a birthday luncheon amid the ficuses and the flowers at his White Gates. Tod used a lemon-painted cloth for his table, and St. Germain To Go provided the mulligatawny soup and the orange French toast. Anne’s favorite chums were there--Quique Jourdan, Audrey Wilder, Bea Korshak, Dinah Shore and Suzy Johnson, who lives in Palm Springs.

Red Letter Days: Monday, when Antoinette Bill, Carol Doumani and Julie Stone will host two special showings of fashions by Victoria at 72 Market St., the restaurant. Both the luncheon show and the afternoon champagne tea at $100 per person will benefit Sojourn, a shelter for battered women and their children.

Wednesday, for Darrilyn Zanuck de Pineda, David Gill Evans and the Bel-Air Council of the Navy League’s party (cocktails, dinner and dancing) at the Beverly Hills Hotel celebrating philanthropist Sybil Brand’s 83rd birthday.

Wednesday, for the private showing of the spring-summer Gucci fashion collection at the Rodeo Drive store.