Rotisseurs Bask in Kachina’s ‘Sunset Sauce’

I swear never to profane and always to cherish the art of roasting and grilling meats. I swear always to fulfill my duties to the brotherhood and show respect toward all members of the Chaine des Rotisseurs .

--Pledge of the Rotisseurs

Picture a surrealistic sunset, a Dali-esque swirl of rose and gold trailing across a dream-like sky. The view served up at Kachina restaurant on Monday night?

Exactly. But instead of appearing beyond a window, this sunset appeared upon the plates of members of the Laguna Niguel chapter of Chaine des Rotisseurs.

Dubbed “Desert Sunset Sauce” by Kachina owner David Wilhelm, the concoction--presented with a perfectly delicious Dungeness crab cake--combined Cabernet butter, smoked chili cream and sweet pepper sauce. The sauce is a signature creation of Kachina, the Right Now restaurant in Laguna Beach that dishes up such mouthwatering southwestern specialties as goat cheese relleno, barbecued duck tamales and pecan and pine nut pie.

No wonder local members of Chaine des Rotisseurs, the largest gastronomic organization in the world, decided to have their first informal dinner party there. Club members, mostly composed of the who’s who of South County’s hostelry set--for starters, Ritz-Carlton manager Henry Schielein and Hotel Laguna owner Claes Andersen--usually don black tie and dine at tables spread with snow-white linens. But on Monday night, they came in business suits to dine on bare wood tables set with napkins in shades of brick and turquoise.

“We don’t talk business on these occasions,” said Jim Allen, vice chancellor of gastronomy for the group. “We’re into enjoying food and wine.”

To say the least. Consider the abundant menu (printed elegantly in blue on snow-white paper and enclosed in a gilded folder): lobster and blue-corn tostaditos--the teensiest tostadas--accompanied by orange muscat, 1988; Zuni corn black bean soup, presented with a red-chili cream stripe down the middle, served up with Graacher Himmel-Reich Spatleese, 1988; grilled veal loin accompanied by Pinot St. George, 1980, and Caesar salad, southwestern style--tossed with dark-roasted pine nuts.

The piece de resistance ? A chocolate mousse and fresh raspberry taco presented with a steaming goblet of coffee laced with Cuarenta y Tres, a Mexican liqueur. Ole.

Keep your eye on Wilhelm. He’s the chef-restaurateur who, with restaurateur Larry Cano, brought the El Torito Grill concept to Orange County. And, he has two new restaurants in the works, Bistro 201 in Irvine and Barbacoa, a Caribbean-style barbecue spot that will be situated downstairs from the new Harbor Club in Newport Beach. Wilhelm is also involved in Taco/Taco, a Southwestern-style fast-food restaurant in West Hollywood that will soon come to Laguna Niguel. Also on Wilhelm’s culinary dance card: a restaurant/dance club he is helping develop near Spago on Sunset Boulevard.

“I love the creative side of this business,” said the drop-dead handsome Wilhelm, 41, before dinner was served. “Other people can take care of the books. Just let me keep on creating.”

Also among guests were Wilhelm’s wife, Nancy; Ellen Sambrano; Jim and Linda Pierog; Gordon and Deborah Carter (with the Surf and Sand in Laguna Beach); Larry Rider; Arthur and Nancy Kesselhaut; Charles and Andrea Foss; Jerry and Marilyn McCloskey; Erich Steinbock; George and Marina Kookootsedes; Lynn and Diane Caswell and Tom and Kathy Farr.

The light touch: Her personal motto is “Keep the light touch,” and the New Directions party that honored Elsa Chamberlain--mother of actor Richard Chamberlain--was full of laughter on Sunday at the compound of Donna and John Crean of Santa Ana Heights.

More than 350 guests wandered about the Creans’ 3.5 acres, helping themselves to food at stations with themes such as “Southern Hospitality,” “New England Fishing Village” and “Heartland Harvest.”

Along with her late husband, Chuck, Elsa Chamberlain has for years helped families who are trying to recover from the disease of alcoholism, said Kay Brown, director of New Directions, a treatment center for chemically dependent women.

“In Orange County, we fill a major gap for women needing treatment for alcohol and drug dependency,” Brown said. “Our 28-day stay is only $1,750, far less than a hospital stay. And we provide scholarships for women who can’t afford the treatment. We never turn away a woman who does not have the financial resources to come to New Directions.”

Among guests were: New Directions board president Bob Anderson with his wife, Susan; party chairwoman Emma Jane Riley and her husband, Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley; Karin and John Ackerlind; Lynwood Wilder, and Elsa’s son, Bill Chamberlain. Proceeds were $65,000.