Designer Menus at Fund-Raiser

Unleash the creativity of 16 top Los Angeles interior designers, combine it with the talents of an equal number of outstanding area chefs and restaurateurs, mix in the equivalent amount of celebrities, and you have the recipe for the American Institute of Wine and Food fund-raiser, “Celebrations.”

This showing of holiday dining table-top designs and menus will be open to the public today and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. in the 5th-floor Grand Court/Galleria of the Pacific Design Center.

From Intimate to Elaborate

Displays range from the intimate “A Cultural Affair,” designed by Barbara Barry for Merry Norris, president of the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission, to Waldo Fernandez’s “Home Casino Party,” created for client Merv Griffin and featuring a game table flown in from Resorts International in Atlantic City.

Barry designed a low custom table and chaises for serving the dinner menu of champagne and truffle soup, circle of lobster in salt crust, square of veal in filo pastry with Port wine sauce and Mondrian of fresh fruit puree developed by Joachim Splichal of Patina.

“I wanted to express her (Norris’) personal identity,” Barry said, so accessories to the oxblood-gold-and-yellow-hued setting include Norris’ personal art books, paintings and sculptures.

To accompany Griffin’s home-casino party setting, Michael Roberts of Trumps designed a menu of cheese and artichoke croquette, clam chowder, roasted game hens with candied lemon and flourless chocolate cake. Turkish designer Kalef Alaton has used the theme “The Feast of Ramadan” in a design for Terry (Mrs. Dennis) Stanfill. Ron Gucciardo, Alaton’s assistant, described the setting as “very opulent, with lots of Puiforcat silver and large-scale suede-upholstered dining chairs with gilt legs.” Chefs/restaurateurs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of City Restaurant and Border Grill developed the menu for this celebration.

Opulent also describes the “Russian Easter” theme designer Craig Wright chose for actor Michael Douglas and his wife, Diandra. “Mrs. Douglas is very fond of Russian furniture,” Wright said, “and has a collection in their New York apartment.”

Bristol Glass Eggs

The table centerpiece is made of French 19th-Century Bristol glass eggs, mounted in gold-washed bronze. The multicolored Flora Danica china is banded by gold and accompanied by Odiot of Paris gold-washed silver. The menu for the dinner was created by sister and brother Pam and Peter Morton of Morton’s. It includes borscht, lamb with pickle sauce, spicy red cabbage, potato pancakes, sweet-and-sour cucumber salad and apple strudel.

Quite a different approach was taken by designer Frank Pennino in his “Thanksgiving in the Mountains” theme for John and Rose Candy. The setting is the porch of a home in the Adirondacks, complete with pine trees. Twig furniture accompanies a quilt-covered table set with pewter, sponge ware and a woodsy centerpiece. The dinner menu, designed by Rolf Nonnast of Saddle Peak Lodge, includes parsnip mousse, quail with wild mushrooms and brioche stuffing, assorted baby squash, four-leaf salad and chestnut souffle.

Other themes, their designers and the menu creators include:

--Midsummer’s Night Dream, designer Val Arnold and chef Jean Francois Meteigner of L’Orangerie for William and Jean French Smith.

--New Year’s Eve, designer Tom Buckley and chef Michel Blanchet of L’Ermitage for Lady Chaplin (Oona O’Neill).

--St. Valentine’s Day, designer Susan Cohen and restaurateur Piero Selvaggio of Valentino’s for Deborah Shelton.

--A Spring Luncheon, designer Phyllis Rowen Sugarman and restaurateur Michael McCarty of Michael’s for Bob Newhart.

--A Celebration With Dudley Moore, Intradesign designer Richard Mayhew and chef Leonard Schwartz of 72 Market Street for Dudley Moore.

--St. Patrick’s Day, designer Jack Lowrance and chef Roland Speisser of Jimmy’s for Mary Ann Mobley Collins.

--Picnic in Napa, designer Hank Morgan and chef Raphael Magana of Mark’s for Earl Hamner.

--Evening at the Opera, designer Jim Northcutt and chef/restaurateur Michel Richard of Citrus for Douglas S. Cramer.

--Summer Picnic, designer Nancy Goslee Power and chef/restaurateur Ken Frank of La Toque for Hugh Johnson.

--Cast Party for Oprah Winfrey, designer Janet Polizzi and chef Elka Gilmore for Jerry and Carole Isenberg.

--Halloween, designer John Patton and chef/restaurateur John Sedlar of St. Estephe for Loretta Swit.

Tickets for the showing may be purchased for $10 at the door of the Pacific Design Center, located at San Vicente Boulevard and Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Proceeds will be used to fund the American Institute of Wine and Food, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of American gastronomy by bringing wine and food professionals and nonprofessionals together through diverse educational and social programs.