Museum Decked Out in Classic Style for a Two-Benefit Ball

So many themes, so late at night.

The Architecture Foundation of Orange County and Bowers Museum threw a party Saturday night that drew more than 200 guests for cocktails, dancing, ogling and a midnight breakfast buffet.

Most of the ogling was directed at the Santa Ana museum itself, decked for the night with more cultural references than a history primer.

The first sight for those attending “Le Bal Masque Des Arts” was an antique carriage with a massive pumpkin in the driver’s seat. Cinderella and Halloween rolled into one timely vignette.

Up the walk to the museum facade, guests got their first look at the fractured Mona Lisa motif, which was repeated inside. Basically: gigantic prints of the da Vinci masterpiece, cracked in bits and hung on scaffolding.

The courtyard housed no less than a Greek colonnade (where girls in togas tossed rose petals at the feet of entering guests), a mini Eiffel Tower, a “Via Veneto” (organ grinder and monkey, silhouette artist and tables with red-and-white checked cloths), and a “Globe Theater” balcony on which Romeo and Juliet made their pleadings.

Inside, the galleries were decorated variously in Egyptian, Oriental and English-medieval style. There even was a “New World” room complete with bandstand, dance floor and bar.

Amid this festive decor strolled a mock Henry VIII, a lutist, two mimes and a violin trio. And, of course, the guests, about half of whom took to heart the invitation’s request for artful disguise.

On the extreme end of the spectrum were Rose Anne and Simon Kings, engulfed in colorful boxes from their necks to their knees--costumes she described as “deconstructionist buildings after (London-based architect) Zaha Hadid.”

On the other end was Arthur Strock, a Newport Beach architect and president of the museum board, in a tiny mask he called “Arthur Strock’s view of the world: black and white.”

Other standouts included museum board member John Rau, in full camouflage duds and war paint, with artillery slung over his shoulder. (“It’s a light anti-tank weapon,” he explained.) Event chairwoman Regina Jacobson--in a Scarlettish poof-and-plunge number--said the party raised an estimated $20,000, which will be split between the museum and the architectural foundation.

Bowers’ acting director, Josie De Falla, said the museum would use the money for community outreach programs, renovation and expansion.

Don Caskey, president of the 5-year-old county architectural foundation, said its share of proceeds would fund scholarships and start a program to teach elementary school children “the connection between the environment, the infrastructure and development.”

Diet-Busters: Who you gonna call?

The Orange County chapter of the National Kidney Foundation held its fourth annual “Great Chefs” benefit Sunday, calling on 21 executive chefs from the county’s top restaurants to dish up delights, calories be damned.

More than 350 guests paid $100 each to attend the cocktail hour mega-buffet at the Dana Point Resort, raising an estimated $50,000 for the cause, according to event chairman Mike Boone, president of the foundation’s local chapter.

The mingled aromas of garlic and basil wafted through the resort’s hallways, a promise of the goodies to come when guests reached the main dining room. There, food stations, wine displays and silent auction tables kept the casually attired crowd on the move.

Between “photo opportunities,” honorary chairman and retired ace pitcher Don Sutton shoveled in a plateful of Villa Nova’s osso bucco (veal shank in cacciatore sauce). Sutton, who attended the benefit with his wife, Patti, and friends Chuck and Cathy Self, said he became interested in working with the Kidney Foundation after befriending “a kid who worked in this little mom-and-pop restaurant in El Toro.” That kid--who died of complications from his kidney disease several years ago--”made me feel like I wanted to help,” Sutton said.

Peter Striffolino, the resort’s executive chef and the organizer of the event four years ago, served Maine lobster torte, smoked duck antipasto and terrine of buffalo mozzarella in basil because, “these are the foods that represent me now,” he said. “It’s always changing.”

Other tempting exotica included Tuto Mare’s muscoli alla palermitana (mussels in tomato sauce), Mr. Stox’s chilled parsnip and three caviars soup, Las Brisas’ chicken and oyster mushroom tamalis, and John Dominis’ garlic scampi.

Hunkered down on couches outside the ballroom, a patchwork of plates spread on the coffee table between them, Cynthia and Marvin Ersher shared their secret to buffet mastery.

“When you come to one of these things, you have to be organized,” said Marvin Ersher, who with his wife is a veteran of the three previous Great Chef parties.

“You have to get to the right tables before the masses get there,” he said. “You have to find a comfortable place to sit, and claim it. And you don’t wear a tie or a belt,” he said, popping a hunk of lobster in his mouth.