Center Club Celebrates 5th Anniversary

For Members Only

The Center Club--that oh-so-private, ever-so-expensive restaurant and hangout across from the Performing Arts Center--tossed a party for itself on Sunday night. The occasion was the club’s fifth anniversary, and management pulled out all the stops. Champagne flowed, buffets abounded. And throughout the evening, as the black-tie crowd circulated in the plush environs, various local classical ensembles, singers and soloists performed brief programs.

First Notes

There was plenty of music to soothe the 500 guests as they chitchatted and noshed, but the most memorable musical notes heard all night might have been the first--the blare of trumpets heralding the arrival of each Benz, each Jag, each Porsche. Two guys in turquoise velvet courtiers’ costumes stood at the entrance to the parking garage and did the honors, raising their silver horns and letting it rip. Meanwhile, down a few steps near the front door to the club, a septet of Chapman College chamber musicians sat valiantly playing through the trumpet blastings.

We Are Family

“The club is an extension of the members’ homes,” said general manager Joe Gatto, summarizing the message he conveys to employees at weekly staff meetings. “That’s the most important thing for all of us to remember.” Since it opened for business in October, 1985--a year before the first concert in the Performing Arts Center--the club has developed a reputation for its personal touch. Members are greeted by name, ushered to their favorite tables, attended by solicitous servers. The original 800 members have grown to 1,100--bringing the club close to its maximum membership of 1,200, Gatto said. Local high-rollers wanting to buy their way into this big, happy family take note: First you have to be sponsored by three members, next you have to be approved by the membership committee, then you slap down a $10,000 entry fee and finally you’re in--and paying $120 per month in dues.

Buffet Bonanza

It might be an extension of home, but you couldn’t call the club’s buffet offerings home cooking--unless you’ve got a team of chefs knocking around your kitchen. In the California dining room, guests ambled along a huge table spread with baby lamb chops, venison skewers, chilled jumbo shrimp, smoked fish, curried crab Oriental pot stickers, baked oysters and smoked beef tenderloin. Overlooking the feast was a red-lit dragon carved from a ton of ice.

Around the corner in the Garden Court room was a sushi bar. Back in the boardrooms were buffets with various pastas and Italian entrees, as well as a five-tier, white-iced anniversary cake and a selection of miniature French pastries.

Celebrating

Ten-minute performances throughout the evening were provided by members of Master Chorale, Opera Pacific, Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and the Orange County Philharmonic Society’s youth performers.

Among guests were Jeanette and Harold Segerstrom, who sat with their daughter and son-in-law Sally and Howard Poulsen, and Loretta and Robert Escalante, whose gray 1940 Packard was parked out front. (From all the fancy cars, the valets picked the Packard--and a red Ferrari--to park in the display spots out front.)

Also seen were Lois and Buzz Aldrin, Jan and Dick Pauley, Marcie and Maurice Mulville, Madeline and Leonard Zuckerman, Kathy and Ron Merriman, Bogumila Laskowska and Marcelo Doffo, Leslie and David Emmes, Lou Spisto, Erich Vollmer.